Esme Nash's life was about to begin. Tomorrow, she would graduate with the Class of 2009 from Dartmouth. She and her boyfriend Liam both have landed great jobs in NYC, and a package she received from her mother just might contain the shoes of her dreams. One phone call changes everything. Her parents have been in a car accident. Her mother is dead and her father is paralyzed and mute. All of her plans fall by the wayside as she cares for her dad for seven years.

His death leaves Esme adrift. Her job, her relationship, and her dreams all stopped seven long years ago. How can she move forward when the what if's of the past haunt her every move?

She decides to accept a dog sitting job in Manhattan. Ulterior motives? Maybe some. To be able to see what her life might have been and perhaps also to find Liam and see if he still thinks about her. Catherine( her client) will need her for twenty-eight days and somehow, Esme must make every one of them count.

Catherine's dog Elvis immediately loves Esme and not only is her apartment in Greenwich Village a dream, but it is also full of the most gorgeous shoes. It must be fate because they are size 7, Esme's size, and she can picture her life by the shoes she wears( and each chapter is titled by a particular shoe).

She meets a wonderful elderly man, Sy at the dog park and makes a new BFF, Zach who works at a bar. Between the two of them, they each show Esme their version of their New York. I could go on and on about this charming story, but I don't want to trip over spoilers accidentally. Read this if you want to believe that everyone deserves a HEA, even if life has been cruel in the past.4.5 stars.

Short synopsis: 7 years after leaving all her dreams behind, Esme moves back to NYC to resume her dream job and make amends with the man she left behind. As she literally walks in the shoes of the shoe obsessed woman she’s dog sitting for, Esme makes friends and finds Liam.

My thoughts: Most girls love shoes! I could never justify spending the kind of money on these fancy shoes, but I had so much fun googling each pair and dreaming!

I loved this story revolving around shoes, and the path taken in each pair. It was such a sweet story about grief, finding oneself, falling in love, with a hint of a romance to last through the ages!

The writing was done so well and I was sucked right in to the life of Esme living in NYC, and Sy during his time in war.

Read if you’re a sucker for:
* Designer shoes
* Dogs with famous names
* Unlikely friends
* Sweeping romance

Thank you to Berkley for sending me an ebook to read and review.

TITLE: A Shoe Story

AUTHOR: Jane L. Rosen

GENRE: Fiction

RATING: 4 STARS

I admit that the first chapter was slow moving, but I am so happy that I persisted as this is one of my favorite books of 2022. Although there is zero similarity (not the same plotline at all) with Bridget Jones Diary, I kept thinking about that one while I was reading - both hit the nail on the head when it comes to be a woman looking for (or not) romance.


Esme our main character is an interesting mix of "I care" and "not very deep" - just like Bridget. I am not sure if the author deliberately gave her character such opposition, but it worked very well and went a long way to explaining Esme - as a human who gets it right and sometimes doesn't.

The shoes are perfect for representing Esme's core - where she is at on any given day and how her mind is.

The dog walking gig is the thing that did not really work for me. I hate having any animals in movies, tv or books because I obsess whether they will be killed off.

I have never had a "thing" about shoes, but I know a bunch of people who do and to them, each and every shoe represents something to them - me, I just grab the closest shoes and hope they match.

The writing is breezy and the pace is really good. While this book is airy, there are a lot of moments where the writing and the character meet, in order to understand life - while wearing glamorous shoes, of course.

Book Review: A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen

A Shoe Story is an adult contemporary women’s fiction novel about a young woman starting over after caring for her father for seven years.
The day of Esme’s graduation from Dartmouth both of her parent’s were in a car accident which left her mother dead and her father paralyzed and non-verbal. Esme abandoned all of her future plans (and her boyfriend Liam) to care for her father. When he passes away seven years later Esme is finally able to start planning her future again and her first stop is a dog sitting gig for a month in New York City. As Esme explores the city she discovers her former boyfriend Liam is still there living in the apartment they planned on moving in together. But he also had a beautiful wealthy socialite girlfriend and a new 1% lifestyle. When Esme meets bartender and law student Noah she begins to see the type of man she’d like to date but he’s also unavailable and in a long distance relationship. Esme will use the month to meet new friends, explore her employer’s glamorous shoe closet and discover if her dreams of working in the world of fine art and reuniting with Liam are still attainable.
On the surface A Shoe Story might look like a “chick lit” type story about shoes, nights out and catching up with old boyfriends but there is actually a lot more than meets the eye. Through Esme’s friendship with former restaurant owner Sy we learn about NYC in the 40’s, World War 2, pickled fish and a lot of Yiddish words. As Esme contemplates her career in the art world we learn about the works of Gustav Klimt, the life of Jackson Pollack and the pure beauty and esthetic of designer shoes. And A Shoe Story also explores serious topics like alcoholism, PTSD and the strain of being a caregiver to a parent.
I highly recommend A Shoe Story for readers that enjoy stories about starting over after a big setback, facing fears and finding love.

A SHOE STORY by Jane L. Rosen is an engaging and emotional story of love, loss and second chances at happiness. On the eve of her college graduation, all of Esme Nash’s carefully laid plans for her future come to an abrupt halt when her parents are involved in a tragic car wreck. Instead of moving in with her college boyfriend in New York City and beginning her career in a fancy art gallery, Esme moves back to her small town in upstate New York to care for her ailing father. Seven years later, her father has just passed away and Esme must restart her life, but is unsure what the future holds. She takes a temporary position as a dog-sitter in Greenwich Village and is soon exploring whether she can pick up any of the pieces of her former life and move on. Esme is obsessed with designer shoes and the owner of the apartment where she is living has a secret stash of the most special shoes. With each pair of shoes she tries out, Esme takes a poignant journey of self-discovery and forms unlikely friendships that will change her life forever. I so enjoyed this uplifting story of friendship, love and new beginnings and highly recommend it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

Esme Nash had her perfect life all lined up. She was graduating college, her mom gifted her her dream shoes, she had her dream job lined up and the perfect man to start a life. When her plans got put on pause for a family emergency she left the big city life and dreams behind for a quiet life upstate caring for her father.

Now, seven years later, she's trying to find herself once again. Step one is a dog-sitting gig for a rich New Yorker away at rehab. When she is given permission to raid her stash, she helps herself to all of the expensive, fancy shoes. She is determined to reconnect with her former love, he still lives at the address they were to share so he must still be pining for her.

I love me some great side characters and Esme's new New York friends fit the bill. Zach was such a supportive friend and helped introduce her to all his favorite haunts. Sy, the elderly fish connoisseur she meets at the dog park 100% was my favorite character of the book. He reminded me of Arthur from The Holiday, the famous man about town who takes the newcomer under his wing and of course has a story of his own.

I recommend this book to just about anyone. There are a few triggers in the book so please do research if you need to be cautious of any.

Anyone plan outfits on vacation around their shoes? I most certainly do! It’s a problem really. I am here to say I adore shoes just as Esme does.
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I really enjoyed this one and each chapter starts with the pair of shoes she’s wearing ranging from her dirty white converse, barefoot, to Louboutins, Gucci, Valentino and beyond. Esme’s life after college was meant to be spent in New York, with her college love, with red soles on her feet but life threw her a curve ball.
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She returns to New York seven years after she left her dreams behind to care for her ailing father. She takes a job dog sitting for a mysterious woman with a closet that makes all of her shoe dreams come true. She experiences all of New York during the month of August with a new pair of shoes on her feet every day. She discovers who she lost the last seven years, rediscovers old love and new and meets new friends along the way. Oh, how I adore Sy the ninety year old man who is a complete stand out in this book.
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I just loves this one and ended it with happy tears. It comes out on Tuesday! Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks and @dg_reads @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Delighted to include this title in ‘Summer Reading,’ my latest round-up for Zoomer magazine’s Books section highlighting guaranteed great beach pleasers (see mini-review at link). It's also mentioned in The Big Read, an essay on the state of mind of 'beach reading.'

Esme is as excited about the end of college as she is to celebrate her next step in life. She’s moving to NYC with her boyfriend Liam and starting a new job in the art gallery world. Her parents have given her a gift of the perfect pair of Christian Louboutins to celebrate her graduation.

However, tragedy strikes after receiving her gift and her parents are involved in a car accident, killing her mom and paralyzing her father. Esme gives up on her dream to take care of her father. 7 years later, he passes away and Esme is left wondering what to do with her life. A month long job in NYC to take care of a dog named Elvis seems like a good change of pace needed to shake up her life.

At her temporary apartment, she finds the dog’s owner is a massive shopaholic! Specifically for shoes that happens to be the same size as Esme! After a small miscommunication, Esme takes to wearing all these dream shoes over the city and meets Sy while walking Elvis at the dog park and Zach, a bartender at Mercer Kitchen. Sy is a wonderful elderly man who owned a fish business in NYC and lost the love of his life when he went away to war. (Sy was my favorite part of this novel and he should get his own novella!) Zach is married to Amara, who he met while studying abroad in Cuba, and they have a complicated long distance relationship.

Between these two men, Esme explores the city and in each chapter, she wears a different pair of shoes. I really loved this story- it’s a love letter to NYC. I was also a young college grad who dreamed of moving to NYC. I have been here nearly 15 years now and I also dealt with the death of a parent so I really identified with Esme. Especially her lost feeling of how her life should have been different.

Thank you so much to @janelrosen and @berkleypub for my gifted copy. A Shoe Story is on sale now and is perfect for shoe lovers!

I received a gifted galley of A SHOE STORY by Jane L. Rosen for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, PRHAudio, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

A SHOE STORY by Jane L. Rosen (gifted book from Berkley Publishing and PRH Audio) is following Esme, a young woman who had to put her life on hold after a tragedy hit her family. She’s now in New York, out on her own for the first time. She’s taken a temporary job dog sitting for a month while getting a feel for the city she has longed to live in. When she discovers that her employer has left behind a collection of fantastic and expensive shoes at her disposal, she begins to venture out in them. She gets the chance to revisit lost love and meet new friends while trying to discover herself.

This is another book (I have had a few in a row!) where there is some definite heavy content, especially in the beginning. (Trigger warnings for addiction, death, and grief.) It does hit pretty hard right at the beginning, but the outlook definitely gets brighter from there. I really thought that Esme was well developed as a character. She reads a bit young in some of her choices and assumptions, but I think that makes perfect sense given the life she has been living which put her development on hold before the book begins.

I loved how the shoes were incorporated into the story through the chapter headings and with the way they play a role in the story itself. This book really has a great cast of characters and I loved that we got to know the back stories for them as well!

I found this a fantastic read and I loved the audiobook for this one as well!

One month until her dreams come true, Esme's world is turned upside down with a mere phone call on the day of her college graduation. For the next seven years, she abandons her hopes and desires to do what is right for her family. Now in a place to visit the city that holds the key to unlock what she long buried, Esme finds herself employed as a dog-sitter in NYC. The city that has her lost love and job.

Esme's employer is high-end shoe hoarder who is away for the next 28 days. The shoe closet rivals a couture showroom filled with the names Gucci, Lanvin, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, SJP, Miu Miu, Louboutins to name a few. If shoes tell a story, imagine the journeys had by an entire closetful. Esme takes on the city one pair at a time.

Every chapter in this book is named after a pair of shoes. The book starts out heavy, but then slowly Esme comes into her own over the course of the month. The story is about overcoming regrets and thoughts of seconds chances to move forward with a new dream. The secondary cast of characters are fantastic especially Sy Katz, a meddling senior citizen she befriends at the dog park. The romance subplot is adorable too.

"Give the Girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world." - Marilyn Monroe.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the advance reader copy.

I enjoyed "A Shoe Story", but I got a bit of a "Sex in the City" vibe from it that put me off a bit, probably just me? For me the dogs were the best part, the MC Esme lacked some depth or something, not sure. Anyway, I am quite sure that many will enjoy this novel more & I would like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for the widget, the exchange of which did not effect my opinions.

Esme Nash has plans, she's about to graduate college, move to NYC with the love of life, start her career and do it all in her coveted red bottom shoes. But before her plans come to fruition, tragedy strikes and her life dreams are derailed.
Fast forward seven years, Esme is alone and it's time to figure out her life goals and plans. She latches onto an opportunity to move to NYC for a month to finally start her life. But can dreams survive 7 years? Are you that same person with that same dream after the universe throws you a curveball?
There's very little spice, a lot of friendships, some coming of age, a dog or two, and lots of beautiful shoes. I loved Rosen's Nine Women, One Dress and was worried A Shoe Story might not live up to my expectations but it did! The characters were the best, in particular Sy Katz, who Esme befriends at the dog park of all places. We meet two possible love interests, one from the past and one in the present, will either be in the stars for Esme in the future??
Great premise, great characters and great story telling...

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

Know in advance that this careens between whimsical rom com and very serious stuff but that on balance, it's a good read about starting over. Esme's parents had a horrible car accident on the eve of her college graduation and she's spent the last 7 years caring for her father. Now that he's died, she takes a job as a dog sitter in Manhattan, hoping to revisit the places she planned to live with her then boyfriend Liam. Turns out the woman she's sitting for has a closet full of unworn gorgeous shoes in Esme's size- and Esme thinks, when they talk, that she's meant to wear them. Then she meets Zac, who is working as a bartender. And Sy, a 90 year old retired deli owner with a story of his own. The relationship between Zac and Esme is stymied by the fact that Zac is married to a woman he met while studying in Cuba (this didn't work) but then he steps up when Esme bumps into Liam and his new fiance and they invite her first to a fund raiser (nothing starts at 6 pm btw) and then to a weekend in the Hamptons. There's some back and forth in time as Esme thinks about her past and comes to understand what happened. I liked Esme despite her remarkable misunderstanding about the shoes as well as Sy. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This takes some unexpected turns.

This story starts on the eve of Esme Nash’s graduation from college when she has her whole life ahead of her. She has an amazing boyfriend, her dream job lined up working for an art gallery in NYC, and her mom has just sent her the perfect shoes to start her new chapter in. But then she gets a call saying her parents were in a car accident. Fast forward 7 years, and Esme put her whole life on hold to take care of her father after the accident, and he has just passed away. She takes an opportunity to dog sit in NYC for a month, and uses that as an opportunity to step back into the life she gave up. In that month she tries to find what parts of her old life still fit, and which parts she needs to change, all while borrowing from the most fabulous collection of designer shoes.

I loved this story. I thought it was so fun that each chapter was named after a pair of shoes. It started out much heavier than I expected, but I loved seeing Esme really come into her own and find herself. It was beautiful and heartbreaking to witness her journey and I loved what this book had to say about regret and second chances. However, the real MVP of this story was Sy Katz. I adore a meddling senior citizen and Sy might be the best one I’ve come across in a book. I adored his character and his story.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the advance copy.

When Esme was graduating college and ready to start her adult life in New York City, a horrific car accident upends her plans for the next seven years. Seven years later she heads to the city as a dog walker for a month, curious about the life and opportunities she left behind.

I liked the premise of the story, but it never really sucked me in to love and care about Esme. I don't really care for fancy shoes, so her access to the owner's collection didn't mean much to me. I did love the unlikely friendships she formed and revelations along the way that she comes to terms with the life she could have had. It's a sweet story of second chances, I just wish I felt a closer connection to our lead character.

Thank you Berkley Books for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love when a book leaves you with life questions to ponder. In A Shoe Story, the main character Esme has spent seven years taking care of her invalid father. His accident happened on the day that was supposed to be the start of her life in NYC but instead changed the direction entirely. What unfolds is second chances, finding your true north, and life lessons, “one pair of shoes at a time.” This book is hard to review without giving spoilers so I will just say, grab this book for a refreshing look at life, endearing characters and a dog named Elvis.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book!

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Women's Fiction
Pub Date: June 28, 2022

I was so excited to receive an advanced copy of this book, and also embarrassed that I have not read this author before. Her previous book, 9 Women, 1 Dress, has been on my shelves for too long. I will definitely be reading it soon, though, because I love her writing style!

A Shoe Story is a poignant story about love, loss, and ultimately, regret. I think if there was a universal question we all ask ourselves, it would be "What if?" After giving up the life she had planned for the life she was dealt, Esme gets to play out her what-if fantasy in NYC for 28 days as a dog sitter. And I loved it!

I thought Esme was a really identifiable and interesting main character. I enjoyed her journey and her growth, and the people she met along the way were so engaging. The story itself is really well-written. I did feel like the prose got a bit tedious in some parts, but overall, the story itself was magical. Two thumbs way up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an ARC of A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen in exchange for my honest my opinion.

Oh my goodness! I had no idea how much I'd enjoy this book!

Esme instantly caught me. She loves art, shoes, NYC, and is loyal to her family. Losing her family is one thing, but taking care of her father who won't speak for seven years is a whole new level of tragic.

Then during her new chance in New York, she has a fabulous shoe stash at her disposal. She gets to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. I love her friendship with Sy, a 90 year old businessman (retired). Through his stories, she starts to piece together her own story. She makes new friends, sees her old lover, and must reconcile reality—or even take what she deserves.

I laughed and smiled through this book. Esme feels like she could be my friend. It's not too spicy and focuses more on building relationships. But it's a kissing book.

Anyone who loves slice of life stories and romances will adore this book.

I have never related to a chapter better than with this one! I laughed , I cried and I absolutely fell in love with them all. I loved the shoes aspect of this story! I truly believe this is going to resonate with young and old alike.