Alexandra Potter is the bestselling author of numerous books in the UK, including CONFESSIONS OF A FORTY-SOMETHING F**K UP, which is now a major TV series, “Not Dead Yet.” She takes midlife breakdowns quite seriously and has continued to mine that transitional time for all the humor, embarrassment and learning it can provide.

In her latest comic novel, SO, I MET THIS GUY, Potter offers up the story of one such flailing character. It’s a romp of the sort that Meg Ryan would be perfect for --- hapless but not hopeless, original but yearning for the regular, wanting what everybody else wants while also wanting something very different.

"With a nice second-act twist, the story takes on a whole new energy that will delight and cement our need to read until the very last page."

Maggie is, to state it simply, at the bottom of the ditch. Literally. She lives in a broken-down caravan in a giant muddy field after a too-perfect guy named Theo took all her hopes, dreams, love and…cash. Nothing is left, and she’s moving a few dollars here and there amidst her existing credit cards with the giant debt attached. And then comes the note. Maggie is going to be asked to leave the premises as she is parked illegally. Somehow, in that endless horizon of fields, someone has spotted her, and she is on the to-be-evicted list.

Until a knock on her loose-jammed door brings Maggie face to face with Flick, a twenty-something local journalist who is looking for a big case. Maggie's lothario has been getting some press lately. Flick seems to think that, if she can catch him by investigating his story and getting to the truth about who he is, Maggie and the other women who have been hurt could find a level of closure to their pain (and maybe get some money back). Against the wishes of her boss and her boyfriend, Flick convinces Maggie to join her in a race around Europe. They have tracked down where Theo is going, and now they are set to follow and confront him. Or will they?

With witty characters at the end of their ropes, SO, I MET THIS GUY brings together all the best elements of a romantic comedy and a buddy flick with a little mystery, a dash of thriller and a soupçon of an international caper. We get glimpses of all the thoughts and personal struggles of the characters without them constantly voicing them out loud. As a result, we get to know them a little better than the characters get to know each other. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re aware of what’s going to happen around every corner. Potter’s easy breezy but introspective narratives make us feel engaged in the craziness that is unfolding on the pages, which can’t be turned fast enough.

The two women don’t quite pass the Bechdel test because they are often discussing their romantic misadventures. But they also confide in each other their feelings about what they’re doing at every turn, forging an actual friendship while making their own personal growth happen. Maggie is a reformed hippie, and Flick is a burgeoning hipster. Most importantly, though, they are trying to right a wrong and make a new path for each of them to venture out into when they succeed. But what if they don’t succeed?

With a nice second-act twist, the story takes on a whole new energy that will delight and cement our need to read until the very last page.