HISSY FIT

Southern belle raises a ruckus.

Keeley Murdock always had the best of everything—and her upcoming wedding to A.J. Jernigan is just going to be peachy. Why, each guest will receive a precious little Limoges box with the names of the bride and groom hand-lettered in genuine 14-karat gold, just for starters. They’ve got to do things right, since it seems like everybody spent a small fortune on her and A.J.—and when the guests get done pawing through the heap of expensive wedding gifts at the Sip ’N See tea, maybe Keeley will calm down a little. Or maybe not. Just what is her best friend and bridesmaid Paige doing with A.J. on the boardroom table at the Oconee Hills Country Club? Why is A.J. hiccupping the way he always does when he has an orgasm? It’s time to burst through that door and have a good old-fashioned—you guessed it—hissy fit. The wedding is off! A.J. decamps, using their honeymoon tickets not long after. Keeley will survive, though this is a mess that even her doting daddy can’t fix. He’s been trying to make her life perfect ever since her mother disappeared 25 years ago. And so has Keeley, an upscale interior decorator who’s awfully particular about details. But her heart’s in the right place. She complains that her latest and richest client, Will Mahoney, owner of the Loving Cup bra company, is trying to export local jobs overseas (she takes his money anyway). By the way, what the hell ever happened to her mama? Did that no-account relative of slutty Paige kill her and put the body down a well? Time to dig a little deeper—in this uneasy mix of chick lit, melodrama, and little-bitty mystery from the author of Savannah Blues (2002).

Competently written, but not at all sure what it wants to be.