Anyone But You
After getting a divorce and turning forty Nina is finally getting the dog she always wanted. Only instead of a cute puppy she guilts herself into taking smelly middle-aged Fred home from the shelter.
Alex is under pressure from his family to move into a lucrative medical specialization despite the fact that he’s happy working in the ER.
When Fred ends up in Alex’s apartment rather than Nina’s one flight up a connection is made despite the fact that he’s ten years younger than Nina.
Typically for a Crusie novel this has good dialogue, likeable characters and the usual flaws. What marks this effort down a little is the section towards the end of the book where folk act stupidly in out-of-character ways for no reason than to introduce conflict and extend the story. I feel it’s a lazy device overused by authors when there are more interesting ways to keep conflict between characters available.