Southern Charm

Reality show star Mortimer draws from her experience as a Southern belle in New York City society's limelight for her charmingly fluffy debut. Mary "Minty" Davenport is a wealthy socialite from Charleston, South Carolina. Since she was a little girl, she's been fascinated by New York City, and now that she's arrived to pursue a career in fashion, she wastes no time in grabbing the rungs of Manhattan's social ladder and starting to climb. Minty picks up with the same privileged circle she ran with in Charleston, including Tripp du Pont, her teenage crush. Though he broke her heart one youthful summer years ago, she never let the flame die, and Tripp appears to have also kept the candle lit. They kick off a whirlwind and highly publicized courtship, and despite warning signs of his unfaithfulness, Minty and Trip marry. But as the relationship begins to show its true colors, Minty must reckon with what she really wants out of her new life in NYC%E2%80%94and whether her husband is really the One. Mortimer's entr%C3%A9e into fiction isn't particularly memorable, but readers will delight in watching Minty sweetly take on the Big Apple. (May)