Alexa McDonald is an ambitious, working-class woman who's reinvented her heritage, her mannerisms and her very name in pursuit of wealth and prestige through marriage to a rich and titled gentleman. As if her goal wasn't shallow enough, her clueless methods of landing an epic heir to some grand estate include bedding every chinless dullard in the aristocracy. You really want to hate this calculating liar... but for some reason, you don't.
Therein lies the rub of Wendy Holden's Marrying Up, as Alexa, a woman who will act decidedly "unladylike" in the name of becoming a "lady," is juxtaposed with her old school chum, Polly, a down-to-earth archeologist who effortlessly falls in love with a member of the royalty without even trying. Problem is, salt-of-the-earth Polly has no idea her new boyfriend is actually a prince. The story zooms from the British countryside to Monte Carlo as both Polly and Alexa stop at nothing to get their men. When a powerful member of high society threatens to expose Alexa's schemes, things get even juicier.
It's never quite clear why, besides the luxury of fine champagne and servants, Alexa so desperately wants to marry her way into the aristocracy. Perhaps because our culture glamorizes the upper crust, no matter how badly behaved, Alexa is determined to become one of the non-working elite. Holden keeps you reading, however, and intrigued as to the outcome of this gold-digging tale while providing a brimming bucket of laughs along the way. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend