Happily Ever Madder: Misadventures of a Mad Fat Girl

“I’m going to be nice. Even if it kills me,” Ace Jones declares in McAfee’s latest (after Diary of a Mad Fat Girl). The Southern girl with a big attitude may bite her tongue when she starts a new life in the exclusive community of Pelican Cove, Fla., with her lawyer fiancé, Mason McKenzie, and a new art gallery. Before long, Mason’s long hours on the job have Ace questioning their future together, and Lenore Kennashaw, Ace’s arch nemesis in Pelican Cove, seems to be doing everything in her power to ensure that Ace fails at her endeavors. Lenore may have her cronies, but there are a set of wily, witty, and free-spirited women who recognize her as a fraud and befriend Ace. Will Ace’s willpower hold, or will she release her full fury and show Lenore who is really queen? Though Ace struggles with love and career, McAfee’s latest is fun and clever, and Ace is still a firecracker if not the full-out brush fire she once was. An overly melancholy ending leaves the reader guessing if Ace will retreat or push forward with all guns blazing next time out. Agent: Susanna Einstein and Molly Reese, LJK Literary Management. (Nov.)