It’s the Sunday before Tess Lowell’s second wedding, but the painstaking planning for her union to practically perfect state Senate hopeful Warren Ashley didn’t prepare her for the drama that’s about to unfold over a week at her family’s Cape Cod estate. Because unbeknownst to Tess, her troublemaking brother, Sebastian, invited her ex-husband, Peter Hyun, to the festivities. Peter, a working-class artist, doesn’t relish the thought of re-entering Tess’ WASPy world, but five years after she divorced him while he was in treatment for alcoholism, he can’t resist the idea of finally getting closure. Even more tempting is the thought of showing up at the wedding with Maynard “Mitch” Mitchell on his arm. When Peter meets the handsome young aspiring writer at a dinner party, they hit it off right away. Mitch agrees to attend the wedding as Peter’s fake boyfriend in the hope of getting some juicy material for his next project. But when Peter and Mitch are drawn into Tess’ orbit, the tension among all three of them threatens to boil over. Fans of the Hollywood classic will recognize the original in broad strokes here—the privileged daughter of a well-to-do family, the handsome ex-husband she can’t quite shake, the bumbling but charming writer thrown into their midst—but readers hoping for the screwball humor and crackling dialogue of the original may be disappointed. Stoddard’s decision to connect the central love triangle on all sides is inspired, and Peter and Mitch’s bisexuality add welcome depth. But the text is overstuffed with characters and padded with unnecessary plot points that slow everything down.