Sam Washington (the heroine of Lost & Found) and I have something in common: both of us lost our diaries – and both on journeys to New York, no less. That kinship prompted me to read this book, but the similarities between Sam and me pretty much ended there. Sam panicked when she lost her diary because she had written about a friend’s illicit affair with a celebrity, knowledge that could be devastating if it reached the wrong hands. On the other hand, even as a sixteen-year-old I was well aware that no one in New York cared whether I had another stupid fight with my sister over which TV show to watch or that I thought that guy in my English class, Dave Barnhill, was cute.

Sam is a high-powered London attorney with a stressful job and a jerk boss with a penchant for showing up naked in her hotel room (Memo to Sam: this is called sexual harassment. I’m not sure what the laws are in England but at least here in the US this sort of crap can get your boss fired. Look into it.). When Sam first discovers that her diary is missing, she’s afraid said boss has stolen it. Since it contains unflattering information about him as well as the aforementioned tidbits about her close friend, Sam is in a dead panic.

Fortunately, Sam’s diary has actually been discovered by her dream man. His name’s Ben, and though he’s American-born he is also currently living in London (and on a business trip to New York). He finds Sam’s diary in a drawer in the hotel, opens a page at random, and is totally hooked. Despite a talking-to from his sister, he reads the diary cover to cover. When he arrives back in London, he drops by Sam’s flat and is greeted by her roommate Gemma, who pretends to be Sam because Ben is attractive. Ben goes out for a drink with Gemma, sleeps with her, and ends up seeing her for a while, even after he finds out she’s not Sam. But it’s Sam he really “knows,” and he has his eye on her all along. Despite attempts to set her up with a friend and frequent foot-in-mouth incidents, Sam and Ben are inexorably pulled together.

This is definitely more Chick Lit than romance, so a lot of the story is about the journey of Sam and Ben as they come together. Similarly, there is much talk of jobs and the single life that one would expect to see (although I noted with relief that none of the characters worked in publishing). There is a fairly wide cast, including Sam’s immediate family and large group of friends and colleagues. Still, at heart this is a romantic book about two people who are perfect for each other and who meet because of an astonishing coincidence.

While reading this book, I asked my colleagues a question: Would they prefer to read a well-written book with beautiful prose but uninteresting characters, or a book with a somewhat iffy writing style and interesting characters? The results were unanimous: everyone preferred choppy but interesting over a stylistically perfect bore. The reason I asked is that Lost & Found definitely fell into the interesting but messy category. I warmed to the characters early on, and I liked nearly all of them – even the relatively insignificant ones. I particularly liked Ben, who manages to be self-deprecating in a funny way. Sam also has a wry wit, and more than once I laughed out loud at her off-beat observations. My personal favorite was when she referred to Ben’s original haircut as “the playmobil look.” Sam also manages to avoid the whiny syndrome to which so many of her counterparts fall prey. Even at her most neurotic, she doesn’t come across as desperate or shrill.

But while I enjoyed the characters and their humor, reading was very slow going at first. The style is choppy and at times confusing. I am not a POV purist, so I generally think that if I find frequent POV shifts in a book distracting, they must be really distracting. Head-hopping was a huge problem in this book – especially early on. Happily, the worst problems seemed to dissipate after awhile, and you could almost feel the shift mid-book as the author hit her stride. At that point, I really started to appreciate the plot and enjoy the characters.

If you enjoy Chick Lit and can overlook some stylistic flaws, then you might find this book worthwhile. The story itself has a winning charm likely to leave a smile on your face. After all, if you have to lose your diary, it might as well be found by a man who reads it and falls in love with you. By the way, my own diary mishap had a happy ending as well. It wasn’t found by the man of my dreams, but by a very nice Tongan lady who discovered it neatly tucked into the seatback of the airplane. She sent it back to me, and even included a picture of her family, all wearing native dress and performing a dance. I still have it tucked into the diary, and I’m still grateful.