This is Where We Live by Janelle Brown (2010)

Well, definitely a novel of the times. A young couple run into the current economic crisis, as their mortgage (in LA) balloons and their promising careers stall out. Jeremy the musician, who can't quite finish an album, has a past girlfriend Aoki, an exotic and quirky artist - and you know she will reappear in his life. Claudia, a film director, is crushed when her first film bombs and she is forced to take a job teaching film at an elite private school. I am sorry, for most of the world to get a decent paying job on a moments notice in a great setting would be miracle enough, and she never appreciates it. I spent way too much time during the novel feeling uncomfortable - with the actual economic crisis, the choices the characters were making, the way they were thinking. There were parts I liked, such as Jeremy watching a family with crying kids in a store and hoping he never has kids, and then later seeing a father with his daughter and realizing how wonderful it can be to have a family, but  I will not be looking for more books by this author, thanks.