Oh my my!! This book was an absolute breath of fresh air, and I really enjoyed it. The story was so gripping and the MC just made a home in my heart from the very beginning. It was an absolute moment of me, feeling proud and giddy to not only follow the MC in her journey of soul searching and self-love but also to achieve it and have her HEA!!

Esme Nash is graduating college and is looking forward to an exciting life in New York City. She plans to live with her boyfriend and has secured a job at an art gallery. Her plans are abruptly halted when her parents are in an accident and she has to return to upstate New York to care for her ailing father.

Years later, Esme is offered a temporary job as a dog sitter at an apartment in New York City. Esme takes the job because she is curious about living in NYC and the opportunities that she left behind. One goal is to reconnect and reestablish a friendship with her former boyfriend. Her daily dog walks bring insights into her new home as she starts developing unlikely friendships. Esme comes to terms with the life and the career that she forfeited and is left wondering if they will be a part of her future.

A Shoe Story by Jane L Rosen is a wonderful story about friendship, regret, and second chances. I enjoyed Esme’s honesty and vulnerability as she struggles to figure out her next path in life.

Immediately after her college graduation, Esme's big plans for the future are derailed. Her parents are in a car accident. Her mother dies, and for the next seven years she takes care of her paraplegic father. When he dies, she has the opportunity to house sit in Manhattan. She has 28 days to live in the city she loves and perhaps reunite with her former fiance and restart her stalled career. Esme is a delightful heroine, and we definitely cheer for her as she tries to rebuild her life after making an enormous sacrifice for her family.

I am feeling incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to read and review this totally delightful novel. Rosen has written another winner.

This is the story of Esme Nash, a timely story, since she became a caregiver for her ailing father at a very young age. It literally stopped her life on the day it should have begun, the day she graduated from college. Seven years later, when her father passed, Esme restarted her journey. It was then that she could go to NYC to try to rebuild her life, maybe reconnect to her great love.

Since Esme loves shoes (as do many readers)., those shoes are used as markers for the chapters. She moves to NYC sitting for a lovable dog while it’s shoe hoarder “mother” is away. Her openness and underlying goodness quickly help her connect with other New Yorkers. Here, Rosen really weaves a magical subplot, with her elderly friends’ love story woven into that of Esme.

Yes, there’s lots of romance and soul-searching for Esme, all just delightful. This is a perfect beach read, elegant and engaging. As another New a York native, I appreciate the real NYC that Rosen has blended into this lovely novel.

I highly recommend this to all my readers and book groups. It’s just delicious! Thank you Netgalley for making my Thanksgiving holiday perfect.