Avon Books (Paperback), ISBN 0-380-81682-2
Lauren Remington, Palm Beach socialite and struggling wedding planner, needs a caterer fast. Disaster threatens Lauren's carefully orchestrated arrangements three days before her best friend Betsy Endicott weds Richard W. D. Stribling IV.

Henri, Palm Beach's finest caterer, didn't expect to die and leave Lauren empty-handed. Who else can provide the kind of haute cuisine Palm Beach society expects? The only available caterer seems to be Max Wilde and his Born To Be Wild Catering. But Lauren wants poached quail eggs and Beluga caviar, not Max's specialty -- barbecued ribs.

Unfortunately at the same time that Betsy says, "I do," every high society chef will pay their last respects at Henri's funeral. So Max will have to do.

Lauren's track record as a wedding planner puts her in last place. Her previous production ended in a fiasco when a table collapsed and sent the wedding cake plunging into the swimming pool. Lauren struggles to succeed at something. After all, she failed at two marriages, backed out before a third, and produced a string of career near misses. Not that Lauren needs the money. Palm Beach born and bred, she considers Manolo Blahnik stilettos working shoes.

They say opposites attract, but Max and Lauren collide. She calls Palm Beach home, while Max hails from West Palm Beach, the wrong side of the tracks in Lauren's world. A former foster child who became a foster father himself, Max roars into Lauren's blue-blooded world on his Harley-Davidson. He hides a heart of gold behind powerful muscles and dangerous good looks.

He wants to avoid this society beauty and to forget the first time they met. (He waited on Lauren at her first wedding.) But now Lauren needs his help. How can he resist her smile and that gorgeous body? Okay, so he knows how to make chi-chi canapés, and his waiters do own an Armani suit or two, but he's already booked for a West Palm Beach shindig more his style.

No one believes Lauren can succeed, especially her mother Celeste. The epitome of Palm Beach society, Celeste hopes this latest whim fades quickly. After all, Lauren shops the finest boutiques, pours tea, smiles beautifully and dresses to perfection. What more could a mother wish for her daughter? Lauren enjoys her wealth and the social world surrounding it, but she craves meaning in her life.

You'll vroom through the pages of this hilarious romp with a likable blue blood and her rugged motorcycle man. Lauren Remington gets your sympathy even if she's filthy rich. In our dreams we hanker to straddle a Harley and wrap our arms around a Max Wilde. I suspect that many of us secretly harbor a wild woman underneath our social polish.

Doris Valliant

Click here to share your views.