The Awkward Truth

Felicity Simmons is a corporate lawyer with a reputation for coldness and one goal: climbing the career ladder. She is close to being handed control of a media empire by her boss. First, she has a job to finish.

Her boss made a generous donation to a charity in the South Bronx that helps homeless people's pets, and Felicity is sent to find out whether the money has been stolen. It looks like a small mystery, the kind of errand that should not take long.

Then she meets the charity's veterinarian, a soft-butch woman with a broad build and strong opinions, who comes with a scruffy, endearing dog. Felicity has no interest in either of them. She has a mentor to impress and a lifelong ambition within reach.

The events take place during the last half of The Brutal Truth by Lee Winter, and the book reads fine as a standalone. Played for laughs, this opposites-attract lesbian romance turns on whether a distraction might be exactly what Felicity needs.