Delilah Daniels would be the first to admit that she’s picky, perhaps excessively and somewhat superficially so since she has made a habit of dismissing men as potential romantic partners for reasons like: “But he’s a Capricorn. But his socks are weird. But he’s way too proud of his alma mater…” which may be why she’s never been in love. Not that this has phased the heroine of Isabel Jolie’s romantic tale WALK THE DOG much, since she comes from the comforts of wealth, has been having loads of post-college fun in New York City for the past several years, and knows she is slated to someday inherit her father’s share of the lucrative family business, Bayou Development.
Then an odd set of dog-sitting circumstances brings her into contact with veterinarian Dr. Mason Herriot, single father of 4-year-old Kara whose mom, Mason’s ex, is in a band and often absent. Fireworks ensue. Delilah has had her share of hook-ups, but no one has ever dazzlingly affected her like this! And she is finding herself becoming as attached to precocious Kara as to Kara’s dashing dad. Meanwhile, her own mother Melinda has a prayer group praying that Delilah does not fall for anyone while sowing wild oats in Manhattan and dabbling at that job with an ad agency so that her daughter will return to New Orleans, preferably sooner than later if Melinda has anything to say about it. The trouble is, Delilah loves New York. She loves being an art director at the advertising agency, she’s up for a promotion, and now there’s Mason and Kara. What they have is new, but it’s easy and erotic and feels really special. Like family. Like home. Yet returning to the original familial fold to take care of her parents as they age along with readying to pick up the mantle of her father’s business has always been the plan, ever since Delilah was a child. Everyone’s counting on her. And her own cherished father has received a troubling diagnosis. Lifelong plans can’t be changed on a whim just because you’ve finally met a great guy, can they?
WALK THE DOG by Isabel Jolie is a sexy romp of a romance novel that also manages to take a look at some tough, worthy questions about what it takes to build and sustain–not only joyful, organically heartfelt relationships–but also a joyful, organically heartfelt life.
~C.S. Holmes for IndieReader