Magnolia Wednesdays — Wendy Wax

At forty-one, Vivien Armstrong Gray has spent most of her life fighting to make it in investigative journalism, only to have it crumble after a bullet lodges in her backside during an exposé. As if the humiliation of being the butt of everyone's jokes isn't enough, Vivi learns that she's pregnant, jobless, and very hormonal. Maybe that explains why she actually says "yes" to a dreadful job covering suburban living back home in Georgia, a column she can only bear to write incognito.

Leaving her tiny apartment in New York, she reluctantly heads south to experience the suburban soccer-mom existence through her widowed sister's eyes. Surrounded by minivans and bake sales, she has lots of material for the column. Her sister's ballroom dance studio becomes her undercover spot where she learns about the local life while posing as an extra dance partner. But Vivi's little stint starts throwing her for a loop as friendships develop, and a real relationship with her sister blossoms. As she digs up her long-buried roots, and begins to secretly investigate her brother-in-law's death, she starts to wonder if life inside the picket fence is so had after all...