I was very happy to get the opportunity to review A Girl’s Best Friend because I so enjoyed Young’s last book, A Promising Man (and About Time, Too). While Young’s books aren’t exactly a break from the Chick Lit mold, she writes about heroines you can empathize with, friends you’d like to spend time with, and men who are both sexy and nice.

Isabel “Izzy” Palmer is invited to her best friend Felicity’s pre-holidays Murder Most Foul bash. Izzy and her lover, Leo, are supposed to portray a couple of sleazy characters at the murderous house party, and Izzy is quite looking forward to it – until Leo cancels at the last minute, of course. He has to go to yet another family do. Izzy is quite put out with him since it seems like he is forever dashing out of town to see his kids or go to a funeral just when she’d like to spend some time with him. But then, Izzy philosophizes, this is simply more of the same from the men in her life, not a one of which has ever been nearly as loyal and devoted to her as her dog, Henry.

While on her own in the country, Izzy observes changes in her mates. Things are tense between Felicity and her long-term beau Ian. Her friend Rob has been made over into a hunk by his chilly new girlfriend. And Rob has a new partner in his veterinary practice. Nick is handsome (though, of course, not Izzy’s type) and has infuriatingly penetrating insight paired with a maddening directness. Nick susses out Leo’s faults about two minutes into their introduction – well before Izzy is ready to admit them to herself or to anyone else.

Things rev up a bit between Nick and Izzy when they find that they are co-conspirators in the fictional murder. Izzy is supposed to be the lower class paid trollop, and Nick is Medallion Max, the boy toy of an older, rich woman. Their roles require them to interact more than Izzy is comfortable with, and when Leo arrives unexpectedly, she is left feeling confused. Was that true chemistry with Nick? And why does he seem so superior and decisive compared to Leo?

Young creates some very nice chemistry here between her young lovers. There’s just the right amount of sizzle in the flirtatiousness, and this dialogue is the kind you can read over and over, smiling all the while. More smoochies would have been nice, but I do understand that this book is Chick Lit and not Romance.

The best part of this book is the lovely camaraderie that Young creates between her characters. Felicity is the group’s mother hen, constantly fussing and worrying over them. Rob is the gentle sweetheart, and Jane is the party animal capable of cheering anyone up. It was nice to see this kind of long-term, supportive friendship in action. As per usual in these types of books, Izzy is not as extreme a character as her friends, but she is easy to empathize with in her large and small angst, as well as funny in a quiet sort of way.

Unfortunately, the book’s weakest spot also involves Izzy’s friends. This book has a cast of dozens, and at times they were hard to keep track of. Compounding this problem was that fact that Young introduced them at the same time she was assigning them identities for the murder party, so the reader must mentally sort out the character’s regular persona as well as his party one. The party was a fun idea, and seeing Jane, Nick, Rob, and Izzy act outrageously was a romp, but it would have been far more comprehensible for the reader had it come later in the book.

A Girl’s Best Friend was a nice way to spend the weekend, and I’m now officially adding Young to my list of Auto-read authors. Readers who like Chick lit, beta heroes, dogs, or house parties would do well to check this book out. I gladly recommend it.