cover image ONCE UPON A WEDDING

ONCE UPON A WEDDING

Kathleen Eagle, . . Morrow, $24.95 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-06-621472-6

The mother of the bride gets her own happy ending in this double-barreled romance by Eagle (The Last Good Man). As the novel begins, Camille Delonga, popular sculptor with a musician ex and an ill mother, is enjoying the wedding of the child of one of her best friends and wondering why anyone would go to the trouble and expense of hosting such a large nuptials. Little does she know that her daughter, Jordan, and the son of her uptight, pretentious friend Bridget are soon to make an announcement of their own. She surprises herself by throwing herself into the preparations and enjoying the planning for the fairy-tale occasion; even her mother, Rosemary, in treatment for cancer, enjoys hand-crafting the dress that Jordan is to wear, not to mention flirting with the chauffeur of the vintage limo hired to drive the kids to the ceremony. But all this reminds Camille of her own bare-bones wedding and stormy marriage to the charming but unreliable Native American Creed Burke, Jordan's father, who, informed by Jordan of her upcoming ceremony, appears on the scene to do what he can to help. Camille and Creed find that there was fault on both sides and that each has mellowed—they also discover that they still feel sparks, but does Camille dare to trust Creed again? The dialogue is choppy and the pacing uneven, but the second-time-around romance between Camille and Creed rings true, and the wedding-preparation details are frosting on the cake. (July)