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Unleashed in LA

One joke. One dog. One crazy midlife reinvention.

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Pub Date Aug 28 2026 | Archive Date Sep 21 2026


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Description

It begins as a joke at a glamorous LA party – where dogs wear Gucci collars and menopausal Brit Christine feels invisible. When asked what she does for a living, Christine jokes that she reads literature to dogs. What could possibly go wrong with one white lie in Hollywood?

Jay, who manages Byron, a famous producer, believes her and offers her serious money to tame Byron’s uncontrollable dog, Obie. In a moment of madness, Christine agrees. There’s just one problem – Christine doesn’t like dogs.

So, why did she say yes? Since living in LA, she’s been desperate to glimpse life behind celebrity gates and needs the cash.

What follows is a masterclass in chaos. Christine enlists fellow culture-shocked expat Lucy to assist with some dog training that goes spectacularly wrong. Think dead pelican floating in a Malibu infinity pool and Christine explaining canine literary therapy to baffled Santa Monica cops.

What happens when Christine finally comes face to face with the ferocious Obie?

It begins as a joke at a glamorous LA party – where dogs wear Gucci collars and menopausal Brit Christine feels invisible. When asked what she does for a living, Christine jokes that she reads...


A Note From the Publisher

Carole Ryder is a former English teacher and Marketing Director whose husband’s work took her from Cambridge to LA in her fifties. Navigating the menopause and expat life there, she embraced LA’s culture of creativity and reinvention. Back home she is keeping her LA positivity alive by redefining life in her seventies on the Dorset coast – the California of the UK.

Carole Ryder is a former English teacher and Marketing Director whose husband’s work took her from Cambridge to LA in her fifties. Navigating the menopause and expat life there, she embraced LA’s...


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781806344673
PRICE £9.99 (GBP)
PAGES 328

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Average rating from 1 member


Featured Reviews

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Thank you Troubador for this arc.


I can actually see this being a business in LA. And if it isn’t now, as soon as someone reads this book, I bet it will be. A bored expat slings out a lie about what she does and before she knows it, someone with more money than sense is throwing money at her to make it real. But this is LA where nothing is real.

Chrissy and her husband have been British expats in LA due to Dave’s business. Chrissy has also made friends with Lucy, the killer divorce lawyer back in the UK, who is now desperately trying to “find herself” (as one does in LA) with some (expensive) help from all kinds of gurus. I actually had the most fun reading about these two lapping up the California sunshine, talking about trying all the yoga studios, and finding their bliss poolside.

Then Chrissy utters a little lie and in an attempt to avoid being caught out keeps piling on statements that only make her look more exclusive and thus desirable. But what if you’re claiming skills you don’t have to do a job you don’t do? No worries as it will get you in for at least one peek at a Bel Air mansion.

To be honest, after a while, I got a bit numb at the endless tomfoolery that these celebrities are up to but then I was also never a fan of the old TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous either. Another thing that I quickly noticed is that some major scene would be built up to only for the moment to pass quickly and easily. Oh, I thought. That was a let down. After this happened a few times and the story dragged on, I got bored.

At first the silliness is fun, watching Chrissy and Lucy revel in the CA sunshine makes me smile but after a while, even playing this for laughs wore thin. The above warning is something that I was saddened that the perpetrator never seemed to have to pay for doing and given his track record, I wouldn’t want a friend of mine to marry Oberon’s dog dad no matter how devoted he is to Obie. C

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