EX AND THE SINGLE GIRL

Cute Southern belle meets sexy British novelist, and then her ex shows up with a velvet box.

When Portia Fallon's live-in boyfriend dumps her, she, like any good chick lit heroine, frets over whether she'll become a cat-hording spinster, acts slovenly, gobbles junk food and lusts after—yes—Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (or at least the Darcy of the BBC version). Portia’s moment of self-pity is interrupted when she gets a frantic call from her mother. Mags, claiming a back injury, begs her daughter to move home to Truly, Georgia, for the summer to help the “Miz Fallons” with their bookstore. (The Miz Fallons—Portia’s mother, aunt and grandmother—got their name because they are “suspiciously lacking Mr. Fallons.”) Portia agrees to come, but it soon becomes clear that there is no back injury: The meddling trio of cocktail-swilling elder Fallons just want to set Portia up with Ian Beckett, a hot British author who recently moved into a nearby farmhouse. But just when Portia reels Ian in for a proper date, her ex shows up at the front door with apologies, promises and a ring. Does this mean that the family’s bad luck with men has finally come to an end? Is a ring on the hand worth more than a Brit in the bed? As Portia is thrown into a relationship tizzy, Mags starts behaving erratically and is arrested for letting a herd of cows loose. When the other Miz Fallons refuse to tell Portia what's going on, the feisty gal decides to find out for herself.

Predictable romantic romp with a pleasant climax.