A Fine Romance: Faking It, by Jennifer Crusie

  Matilda Goodnight is a good person.  She adopts a very sweet dachshund out of a neglectful home; she works hard painting murals to help support her family. 

But Tilda has a secret, in a family full of secrets and lots of drama.  After all, it was Tilda's mother, Gwen Goodnight, who said:  "If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a terrible warning." 

And her secret is really messing with her love life.  Until she meets Davy Dempsey (what sort of name is "Davy" for a grown person, anyway?) in a closet, of all places. 

What were they doing in a closet?  Well, that's a long story that has to do with Davy's ex-girlfriend, and some favors Tilda did for her father when her father was running the Goodnight Gallery. 

This book is cute, funny, improbable, optimistic, and charming.  The Boston Globe said, "'Faking It' is an unabashed homage to such classics as the Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday.  The dialogue, which is peppered with movie references, is arch and smart-alecky, and moves the story at a rattling pace."