After finding herself living with yet another set of peculiar flatmates, Holly Livingstone is desperate enough to take the small cubbyhole-of-a-bedroom in her best friend Josh’s flat. Josh, who is still in a dilemma over whether he likes girls or boys, is a gem to live with, while their mutual snooty college mate Kate is forever cluelessly dating married men while harboring an unending crush on Josh. But it’s their third flatmate who never comes out of his room, the mysterious computer programmer Addison, who has Holly curious. Once she discovers how beautiful he is, nerd or not, Holly decides he’s the man for her, ignoring the tiny fact that he doesn’t even remotely reciprocate her feelings.

At twenty-eight, Holly still feels and behaves like a teenager but increasingly feels out of place whenever she’s around youngsters like her new flower-shop colleague, Chali, and her punk-rock band pals. Holly also finds herself alternately attracted to and irritated with Kate’s physicist colleague, Finn, who keeps sending her mixed signals. Is there a happy ending in sight for this giddy girl? If so, with whom is she ultimately going to end up?

Talking to Addison author Jenny Colgan has a keen eye with which she neatly and sardonically captures the angst of the three principal characters in this book - fear of growing up and being responsible in Holly’s case, his sexuality in Josh’s, and love in Kate’s. Written in a conversational style, filled with more bad language than is usual, and with plenty of British slang, the book takes a bit getting accustomed to initially. But filled as it is with sharp and sarcastic observations, tailor-made funny situations, ruthless dissection of inherent human weaknesses, and some romance, this book is enjoyable to read. The singles scene, which has become the rage these days, is the premise behind this one, too. As the novel progresses, readers come to see each of the four flatmates grow and change for the better. While this wrapping up is reached in a very roundabout manner, it nevertheless makes for hilarious and pithy reading..