Without a Hitch

Huddleston and Paul’s delightful debut offers a dishy behind-the-scenes tale of Southern wedding planning. Lottie Jones, who is single, started planning her own wedding as a college student before having any proposals, and seven years later, she’s planning other people’s elaborate weddings at Cedric Montclair Celebrations, a glitzy venue in Dallas. A skydiving groom? No problem. Replicate Las Vegas in a Texas Ritz-Carlton? Totally doable. Then Lottie’s college boyfriend Brody Stevens, now an NFL star, and A-list Hollywood actress Harriet Devore become Cedric’s newest clients, and Lottie is charged with planning a wedding with the groom she once thought would be hers. As Lottie works—and juggles two prospective boyfriends, sports agent Matt and wedding photographer Griffin, as well as a possible job promotion—she learns she doesn’t need a man to have fulfillment. Wonderfully over-the-top characters add verve, like the self-made Cedric who changed his name from Clyde as part of an effort to put his humble origins behind him, and the authors reveal the real reason Southern women don’t sweat through their clothes (panty liners in the armpits). This raucous and well-plotted romp will charm any reader with their eye on a pair of Louboutins fit for walking down the aisle. (Dec.)