Mating Rituals of the North American WASP - Lauren Lipton

"Sometimes what happens in Vegas...follows you home". Killer blurb on the back of the book. I mean, how can you resist? I've had this book sitting on my shelves for probably a good six to eight months, and recently picked it randomly to read for my Random Reading Challenge. I took it with me on my girls' cruise getaway, and it was just what the doctor ordered. No Nazi crimes, no serial murderers, no ghosts. Just pure romantic fun.

What we have here is a very predictable, but very sweet fairy tale of sorts. The type of story you can totally see as a rompish flick starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kucher, perhaps? Although I generally loathe predictable, it was OK in this scenario.

Peggy Adams, a successful New York businesswoman, goes to Vegas to celebrate a friend's upcoming nuptials, gets tanked, and wakes up in bed with a strange (handsome) man. Never mind that Peggy is living with a good-looking guy, who just happens to be terrified of commitment. She does a quick walk of shame back to her room, boards a plane home, and tries to forget her indiscretion. Except that she soon gets a call from the strange man, named Luke Sedgewick of the Connecticut Sedgewicks, informing her that they actually got married on the night of their Vegas drinking spree. Oops. Darned tequila will do it every time.

Before Luke and Peggy can quickly arrange a annulment, Luke's old, eccentric great-aunt Abigail gets involved. The old-money Sedgewick name ends at Luke, you see. Aunt Abigail offers the family estate and fortune to Luke and Peggy if they stay married for a year. An inconvenience to say the least, but Peggy and Luke can't ignore the financial possibilities, and decide to give it a go. There are the usual obstacles (how to inform the live-in boyfriend, or the hot tamale girlfriend, or the parents, how to pretend to be in love before Abigail's stuffy, small New England community). It is easy to ride the wave that you can see coming a mile away. There are a few side plots to spice things up...a friend going through in vitro, the ex-boyfriend that won't go away, a hidden treasure, etc. It is a nice, pleasurable fantasy, if you are looking for one.

Give this one a try when your mind needs a tall glass of a strawberry dacqueri. You'll feel refreshed and ready for another dose of seriousness.

4 out of 5 stars