You could be mistaken for thinking the bare bones of this story is a well-trodden one, a story ripe for being turned into a perfect Sunday afternoon, goes-down-well-with-a-cup-of-tea-vicar movie. A chap finds himself suddenly single, and lumbered with the unsightly and less than convivial mongrel his ex had only recently fetched from the pound. Surprising nobody, the pair learn to win at life with each other's help. So it's a little bit interesting to see that plot carried along not for some Jim Broadbent vehicle, but by some big shot advertising bloke in his late twenties.

Normally, fiction doesn't want us to like ad men, and when his first response to being single is to jump into bed with his ex's baby sister, your judgement might still be skewed. (The doggo's response is a gift from the rear end in response.) And I can see people getting to the end of this still not really on his side. And by reading this, and not watching it at the cinema, I can also wonder aloud if the dog does enough for our love and affection. Add in some really unusual beats (one sub-topic concerning our man's past a really peculiar choice) and the fact this is merely a romcom with pretensions, and it's perhaps not the book you expected. I never objected to it, but never got the feeling of having a great time, either.

I enjoyed waiting for Doggo, it was heartwarming, amusing and easy to read. My only criticism is my need to know what happened after the ending! Who was his father? Did they begin a relationship....I need to know!