Part basset, part beagle, all Cupid . . .

For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom -- from the ex-husband, freedom from their stuffy suburban home, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed -- a puppy. A bouncy, adorable puppy. Instead she gets . . . Fred.

Overweight, middle-aged, a bit smelly and obviously depressed, Fred is light-years from perky. But he does manage to put Nina in the path of Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger-by-a-decade neighbor.

Alex seems perfect -- he's a sexy, seemingly sane, surprisingly single E.R. doctor -- but the age gap convinces Nina that anyone but Alex would be better relationship material. But with every silver-haired stiff she dates, the more she suspects it's the young, dog-loving doc she wants to sit and stay.