Dog Handling
Bride-to-be Liv Elliot is plagued with doubts--not so much about her fiance, Tim, but about her readiness to trade in freedom for commitment. Still, she is devastated when Tim breaks their engagement. To mend her heart, she leaves London to join her best friend, Alex, who lives with her rich boyfriend, Charlie, in Australia. Charlie and Alex's circle includes Liv's first love, Ben Parker, with whom she had a teenage summer fling while vacationing in Aix-en-Provence. Ben has since coupled with pencil-thin, beautiful Amelia, so Liv thinks she has no chance--until Ben begins to flirt with her. Taking the advice of two gay friends (who have read the odious dating manual,The Rules), she tries to win Ben through "dog handling," a theory that espouses treating men like the dogs they are. Liv is a likable Everygirl, with whom many twentysomething female readers will identify. Despite the distastefulness of the whole "dog handling" concept, the novel accurately depicts the self-doubts of young single women searching for romance.Beth WarrellCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved