By Invitation Only

South Carolina’s Low Country is the heart of this tender paean to young love and midlife makeovers, but Benton Frank (Same Beach, Next Year) also blends the allure of big-city swagger into her smart and funny account of modern wedding madness. As middle-aged divorcée Diane prepares for the upcoming wedding of her only child, Fred, to city slicker Shelby, she thinks of all the reasons why the blend of a “tribe of hillbillies” and Chicago socialites might prove disastrous. These include Diane’s lady-killer brother, Floyd, and her shoot-from-the-hip mom, Virnell. Susan, Shelby’s mother, narrates in alternating chapters and unveils her doubts about the match after her plans for a lavish, society-page worthy wedding start to fall apart while her husband’s financial issues increasingly come to the fore. It’ll be Shelby and Fred who ultimately quell the rancor with their own plans to do “a better job of being a family,” laying the groundwork for a hilarious rehearsal dinner hoedown amid an epic Chicago snowstorm and a sweetly intimate wedding day. New beginnings bubble throughout, with Diane taking a second look at love and Susan being forced into much-needed soul-searching and unexpected new relationships. Benton Frank readers will be richly rewarded by this endearing story of love and family. [em](May) [/em]