Beth Kendrick (Once Upon a Wine, Cure for the Common Breakup) returns to Black Dog Bay, a fictional seaside town in Delaware that's become a refuge to the broken-hearted and romantically challenged over four previous novels. This installment features 27-year-old Jocelyn Hilliard, who runs a linen and laundry service for area condos and rental units with her mother and wise-cracking best friend, Bree. Jocelyn has her life upended when she rescues a dog from a busy street and, as a result, is offered a job caring for and walking a pack of Labrador retrievers--pedigreed, pampered, future world champion show dogs--who are owned by rich curmudgeon Peter Allardyce.
When the elderly Mr. Allardyce dies several months later, his will surprisingly appoints Jocelyn as the guardian and trustee for the beloved Labs. He also names her as financial fiduciary of the trust and benefactor of his lavish beach house mansion. The news leaves those in Allardyce's circle up in arms--including highfalutin show-dog trainer Lois and Liam, Allardyce's estranged son. Both feel they are more deserving and far better trustee candidates than Jocelyn. Thus begins a tangled legal battle that tests Jocelyn's patience and her judgments of people, while also forging her strength and resolve on the road to finding true love.
Kendrick's breezy style and quick wit enliven more serious themes centered on family, love, work, class differences and the universal human need for love and forgiveness. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines