It must be true then A novel

What do you do when you get fired, but your job is your whole life? That's the question Daisy Peterson must ask herself in this whimsical novel. Daisy has worked as a data analyst for 13 years, but she's let go for blowing up at a client. Oh, and she's been sleeping with the boss, who dumps her the same day. Daisy's also been fighting with her sister, and everyone she knows from work has abandoned her. Then she meets Bailey and Cara, two girls she finds alone in a Sainsbury's after their caregiver has stopped paying attention. And it just so happens that the cute handyman Daisy has been flirting with at a coffee shop is their dad. Widower Archie is kind and welcoming, just like his daughters--but their idyllic life can't last forever. Much of the narrative is told in flashbacks, leaving the reader to piece together Daisy's past and hook it up with her future. Daisy is funny and engaging, a bright voice amid more serious themes of loss and grief.

This sparkling second-chance romance from Adams (Not That Kind of Ever After) finds Londoner Daisy Peterson at her wit's end: after 13 years on the job, she's just lost her data analyst position and, with it, her workplace relationship; her dependent younger sister, Mia, is looking for a financial handout; and she has no idea how to move forward. After forcing herself off the couch to buy groceries, Daisy unexpectedly meets rambunctious Bailey and Cara, the two precocious young daughters of Archie Brown, a widowed father, artist, and part-time lawyer. The girls momentarily snap Daisy out of her funk, so when, shortly thereafter, she sees a "nanny wanted" notice on the grocery store's bulletin board, she decides to apply--only to learn that Archie's kid-averse girlfriend posted the ad without his knowledge. Still, Archie agrees to give Daisy a chance, and though she's always maintained she doesn't want children, she soon falls head over heels for Archie's girls--and then for Archie himself. Adams ably demonstrates that long-held positions can be revised, and the book's vibrant prose, appealing hero and heroine, and two kid characters who steal every scene combine to create a truly feel-good story. This is a treat. (Mar.)