Interior designer Lauren Simpson and architect Mike Miller have an unforgettable encounter over the holidays when a storm strands the traveling strangers at an airport hotel and they rescue a stray dog, but circumstances keep them from exchanging contact information. As their lives continue to intersect through an increasingly improbable series of near misses, both struggle to determine whether their connection has a future or simply wasn’t meant to be. The author embraces the idea of romantic destiny wholeheartedly, building a story around coincidence, timing, and the persistent feeling that these two people are meant to find each other. Lauren and Mike repeatedly cross paths without realizing how closely their lives overlap, while their dogs, Buddy and Pumpkin, provide comic relief. The supporting cast of colleagues, friends, and family add an appealing sense of community. The novel has the polished, cinematic quality of a Hollywood romantic comedy, complete with a cozy neighborhood setting, matchmaking mutual friends, and a series of increasingly unlikely coincidences. Lauren and Mike are incredibly likable protagonists, and their mutual longing is easy to understand. The dogs are particularly effective as emotional touchstones (Pumpkin looks like “a real-life version of Lauren’s favorite childhood teddy bear”), lending the romance a playful, domestic quality. At times, however, the accumulation of near misses can feel overly engineered, and the characters’ repeated failures to communicate stretch credulity (one is an interior designer and the other an architect hired on the same project, but their jobs never bring them face to face). Readers looking for greater emotional depth or narrative complexity may find the story overly convenient and contrived. Still, the novel delivers exactly the kind of romantic wish fulfillment its premise promises. Readers who enjoy low-angst romance, missed-connection narratives, and the comforting assurance that everything will eventually fall into place will find plenty to enjoy here.