How Dolly Parton Saved My Life

Josephine Vann, a devoted wife, doting mother and former bank exec, starts a catering company in Connors’s wholesomely humorous debut. After hiring Daisy, an eccentric pastry chef who lives by the rules Dolly Parton doles out in her songs, and Cate, an interior designer in a “quarter-life crisis,” Josephine meets her match in Ellie Howell-Routledge, the Cordon Bleu–trained daughter of a powerful Atlanta family who uses her deep pockets to push her way into partnership with the reluctant Josephine—never knowing that Josephine is harboring a secret that involves Ellie and her husband. On the way to becoming innovative businesswomen, they tangle with a health inspector, face financial ruin, unwittingly shock the sensibilities of delicate clients, worry about their children and bemoan lost loves. Most importantly, they bond, giving the girlfriends the opportunity to show off their feistiness and strength. Think: Steel Magnolias meets the Food Network. (July)