First published 2018
Diane English Stiftel hosts a barbecue engagement party in South Carolina's Lowcountry to celebrate her son Fred's upcoming marriage. The bride is Shelby Cambria, daughter of wealthy Chicago power broker Alejandro Cambria and socialite Susan Kennedy Cambria. At the party, Alejandro discovers cell phone service has limits while Susan learns about moonshine and unexpected attractions. The celebration then moves to Chicago for a second engagement party, where Diane feels completely out of place among the sophisticated guests and bright city lights. Susan worries her friends will think Shelby is marrying beneath her station, while Diane fears losing her son to this privileged world forever. The story follows these two vastly different families as they navigate class differences, hidden secrets, and personal revelations. Legal troubles and a dramatic fall from grace force everyone to confront who they really are and what truly matters to them.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, social-climbing
Setting: Chicago, Lowcountry, South Carolina
400 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow