With my last couple of reads being on the darker side, I thought this one would make a nice change of pace.

It was really refreshing to see a different premise than the traditional romance fare - 40-year-old divorcee Nina finds herself attracted to her new neighbor, 30-year-old Alex.

What was ever better? The word 'cougar' was nowhere in sight. Oh, how I abhor that term.

Throw in an adorable part basset, part beagle, match-making dog, and we should be on a winner.

Nina took one long last glance at the tumbling, chubby puppies. Prozac with four legs and a tail. Then she looked at the other dog, depressed, alone, too old to be cute anymore if he ever had been. "I have a lot in common with this dog," she told the attendant.

Nina was portrayed realistically. She had hang-ups from her failed marriage and serious reservations about starting a relationship with 'an infant', along with plenty of body image issues:

Gravity had betrayed her when she wasn't paying attention. Looking closely, she could see the damage. Cellulite. Fat. Bulge. Droop.
She drew a deep breath. Well, okay, so nothing was the way it used to be. But it wasn't bad. And it was all real, no Jell-O molds. So she wasn't Cindy Crawford. Big deal. Without airbrushing, Cindy Crawford probably wasn't Cindy Crawford, either.

Unfortunately, Anyone But You never quite realized it's potential. There was plenty of opportunity for hilarity, but it never got past amusing. There was plenty of opportunity for emotional depth, but we only scratched the surface. And Fred the dog, well he never became quite the scene-stealer he was cracked up to be.

This was a quick, pleasant and undemanding read, and I actually did learn something - did anyone else think her name was Jennifer Cruise?