A LOWCOUNTRY BRIDE

A wedding dress designer learns to trust her professional instincts after returning home to Charleston to care for her ill father.

Maya Jackson has a dream job in New York working for Laura Whitcomb, one of the most prestigious wedding gown designers in the world. Although Maya has been told she’s in competition for a promotion, Laura denigrates every single one of Maya’s designs, which are inspired by her Filipino and African American background. Maya also hides her sickle cell disease from her boss, recognizing Laura’s pattern of discriminatory behavior and fearing retaliation. Nevertheless, Maya continues to hope that becoming Laura’s junior designer will open future opportunities in the wedding gown industry. When Maya’s father becomes ill, Laura agrees to let her take an unpaid leave of absence to care for him. Worried about her loss of income, Maya takes a job at the first Black-owned wedding boutique in Charleston to make ends meet. Having inherited the boutique from his mother, Derek Sullivan is struggling to keep the business afloat while also raising his teenage daughter. Three years earlier, his wife was killed in a mass shooting at their church, which is presented as a muted backstory rather than an active emotional factor for Derek. Maya’s original designs and her knowledge of the bridal business breathe new life into the boutique. Derek and Maya go out on a few sweet, bland dates, but the barely-there romance feels like an afterthought; their relationship lacks chemistry and is woefully underdeveloped. Maya is torn between hoping for Laura’s seal of approval and honoring the legacy of her heritage, and this dilemma drives the plot and timeline of the novel. Williams’ choppy, stilted prose is not strong enough to carry the emotional weight of the novel.

A simple story about learning to trust yourself to achieve happiness.