It's hard to enjoy a book when the main character is two-dimensional and rather unlikeable. I don't mind unlikeable characters, but when they aren't meant to be unlikeable, when the reader is supposed to feel sympathy for them and want to see them grow, it makes for a frustrating read (listen). Rosen couldn't even give the dog any personality, and the main male lead deserved way better than insipid Esme. Also, please note, I have never met a New Yorker who constantly refers to their home as "NYC" in regular conversation.

This book was annoying on many levels. ( )

Actually absolutely marvellous. Maybe on surface level it looks like another airheaded chick lit book, but Rosen goes into so much depth at every moment. I'm such a big fan of the ways she crafts narratives, and Esme did not disappoint here (though Sy and Elvis were obviously my favourite characters.) I wasn't expecting the reveal that Esme's dad was an alcoholic but it was well integrated in and I really admired the way it was incorporated into helping Esme figure herself out. What a brilliant book!

A rom-com that folds in a handful of sad side stories. The shoe metaphors were not effective for me. Avoids the common trope of two characters having a trumped-up misunderstanding that drives them apart. ( )

A very sweet story....turns out I know NOTHING about SHOES---LOL! Yes, a very few of the names I might have recognized but...I am just not a "shoe" person so it was fun to see the author describe two people with shoe obsessions---Catherine and Esme. Nice twists and turns to get to the conclusion. The first reviewer did a great job of describing the story and we both agree---great descriptions of places you want to visit in New York City. ( )

Esme is excited to be graduating from college and heading off to her new life interning at an art gallery in New York City and living with Liam, her college boyfriend who also has a job in New York.

When tragedy strikes, Esme returns her upstate New York hometown of Honeoye Falls to care for her father and all her future dreams fade away. She breaks up with Liam, not wanting to hold him back.

Seven years later, Esme has the opportunity to dog sit for a woman in New York City. While it’s only for a month, Esme looks forward to being able to explore the city she once hoped to call home, and maybe even run into Liam.

Esme meets a handsome bartender who rescues her from a creep, and makes friends with Sy, an elderly man she meets at the dog park. She also discovers that the woman who owns the apartment has an extensive collection of beautiful shoes, and finds a note from the woman telling her to help herself (or so she thinks).

Each clever chapter title is the name of a pair of shoes from the closet, and gives the reader some idea of what it to come. (I’m not a shoe person, but if you are, you will drool over some of these descriptions and titles.)

I loved following Esme’s adventures in New York City, and made a list of all the fun places I want to visit. (Mercer Kitchen will be my first stop.) Rosen drops the reader right into Greenwich Village, with a side trip to the Hamptons. You'll feel like you are there. ( )