Milo Tanaka was not recovering from the mother of all breakups when his best friend barged into his home and gave him a dog. While Julia the dog doesn't like squirrels, cats, turkeys, other dogs, or most humans, at least she gets him out of bed. When a tiny blond dog rockets out of nowhere to bark ferociously at Garth Potter's enormous Daniff, "the Chad," Garth is annoyed, but Chad simply woofs in Julia's face. But when Garth looks around for her irresponsible owner, he finds a fey panicky disaster desperately trying to keep his dog from getting eaten, and realizes Milo is simply new to dog ownership, not neglectful or cruel.

In fact, Milo is a truly decent guy, and he and his best friend have been struggling to find their footing in adulthood and relationships. As Garth befriends Milo and the irascible Julia, he finds himself entangled in Milo's broken heart and fractured life. As much as Garth wants to fix it, he knows that Milo has to fix it himself. With the holidays approaching, Milo realizes that a good relationship won't leave him isolated and afraid, but surrounded with friends, and that the key to thriving isn't just chasing the turkeys out of his life--it's letting a good man in.