The Love Pug: A Wish Novel

by J.J. Howard

J.J. Howard, author of Pugs and Kisses and Pugs in a Blanket , delivers more puppy love and friendship mix-ups. Emma's pug, Cupid, has a hidden He is a master at matchmaking! Her pet seems to have a nose for spotting which two people belong together. With the big school dance coming up, Emma decides to use Cupid's powers to find her best friend, Hallie, a date. But as Emma tries to navigate crushes and secrets, she finds that things are a lot more complicated than they seem. And what if Cupid also has a surprising match in mind . . . for Emma herself?

Genres: Romance, Dogs, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published December 26, 2019

About the author

J.J. Howard writes YA and MG books. She lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her assistant is named Willow—a miniature dachshund with a lot of great ideas—most of them involving dinner or at least snacks. Her books include the young adult novels THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS and TRACERS. Her middle grade novels include SIT, STAY, LOVE, Z ON LOCATION (an American Girls Book), PUGS AND KISSES, PUGS IN A BLANKET, THE LOVE PUG, and GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE PUGS.

Reviews

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another perfect read from J.J. Howard! I always look forward to her books because she always makes middle grade novels look good. The Love Pug is another perfect story of friendship, love, and family, and of course, pugs that will make you smile from start to finish. Even as an avowed cat person, her books make me want to adopt a puppy. Also, this one is based on the classic, Emma, and Howard does an amazing job of updating the story while weaving in all of the cleverness and lovable characters that you would expect from a Jane Austen novel. As an English teacher, I recommend this book to all of my students, and extend that recommendation to anyone and everyone looking for a good read.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My thoughts} – Emma is a sweet girl that has an adorable pug named Cupid. Cupid is well known by most the town and allowed in places of business that wouldn’t otherwise allow pets.

Emma has a best friend named Theo and another named Hallie. They have been really close friends for a long time and mostly know everything about one another.

It takes Emma sometime to figure out she’d fallen out of step with both in regards to the pages of this book. However, once things start to make sense she seems to be better able to sort out her thought and feelings.

Cupid is a fun little pug. Emma things he’s a matchmaker and truly takes that thought process to heart. She thinks he helped set her old babysitter up, her dad, her friend Hallie and more.

This was a really cute book to read and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and other books by this author are great books for middle school kids. They show friendship. It is about two friends Emma and Hallie. Emma has a pug who seems to play matchmaker. The school dance is coming up and Emma decides to try and find her best friend a date. All ends to another and Emma might have just found herself a match. I recommend this book.

[Nikki Morrell Buyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

JJ Howard is an incredible middle grade author. Each of her books, including this one, has believable characters. You feel as if you know them and hang with them at school!

[Luca Dyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. It had so much drama and tea. I feel in love with Theo.

[Sreenidhi C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO CUTE! JUST LIKE ALL OF THE OTHER WISH BOOKS!

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved every one of J.J. Howard's pug books and was really excited to read this one. It might just be because I'm a teen now, but all this drama and friendship problems are starting to bore me. And this book had plenty of it. Basically, the main character's dog is matching people together who later become couples. She thinks she knows everything and tries to match people herself which leads to drama when she starts to be really rude and hurts her relationships with her friends. I think what was wrong with this book was how the main character was changing dramatically throughout the book, while the other characters didn't change at all and just reacted based on her actions. I recommend this book to people who like a bunch of drama and friendship problems.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweet story about a pug guiding his young owner to finding love (and those around her) is adorable and very suitable for 4th grade and up!

I enjoyed reading Emma's personal struggle with being too controlling of the friends around her, and the growth she has when she realizes she's been doing more harm than good.

It was a fun, light read and I quite enjoyed it!

[Christine Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorbs!

[Caitlin Yousey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I loved the ending especially!

[Abigail Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and cringe teen romance!

[Christine Rains · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma loves to plan things, and to make things more exciting, she has discovered her pug, Cupid has a magical talent: matchmaking! Sure, Cupid may have matched her dad and her favorite teacher which is awkward, but she can use her adorable pug to find a date for her best friend for the Valentine's dance. Yet what does Cupid have planned for Emma?

This is my favorite book so far in this MG series. I'm reading them with my ten-year-old. He's a huge animal lover, and he thought it so cute that Emma loves to dress up Cupid. Emma is a sweet and bright girl. She's brilliant at planning but she's clueless about other things. A lot of things get messed up as she tries to direct things the way she thinks they should be, and she learns a lot about the world and herself along the way.

[Maggi Andersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it was written for preteens, but the writing was a bad kind of juvenile. None of the characters (other than the pug: honestly, the only reason I started and then continued to read this book) were particularly likeable. Emma is a self absorbed control freak. Theo is sanctimonious and moody. Their friends have no real personalities. It just made for lackluster reading. My 12-year-old may give it a go, in which case, I'll update if she gives it a glowing review, which I doubt.

[Twila Leininger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my eleven year old in five hours. She is close to getting 200 AR and the Ipads go back tomorrow.

It was a great story where the girl fell for the good guy while finding herself. It kept us guessing on which guy she would choose. My daughter said, It was always Theo. We love the pug scenes too!

[Hayley]

loved it

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read! Highly recommend it! Good for those looking for a book with a hint of romance, humor, mystery, and, of course, pugs!

[Maddy Payne]

great ig

[ChesLea · Rating 3 out of 5]

why was i obsessed with this series as a kid 😭

[Trixiter Marczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, and good feeling story!! I love the way JJ Howard brings you along for the ride with her characters! ❤️

[Pax · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s valentine’s day… sue me

[Delancey Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the romance in this book is played out

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how much Emma’s grew up from the beginning to the end of the book and I didn’t expect the ending but it all makes sense

[Aubrey Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book