On a break between movies, actress Stella Powers and her unfortunately named daughter, Idaho, (somewhere, Gwyneth Paltrow is crying) visit her mother back in her home state of New Jersey. Twenty-two years earlier, Stella had fled Homewood for the starry lights of Hollywood in search of fame and fortune—and she found it. Her latest role is Oscar- worthy and her new husband is super hot. Things couldn't get better for Stella—and in fact, they don't. Only mere hours into her visit home, her mother suddenly dies of a heart attack. Crippled with grief, Stella misses the starting day of filming on her new movie and gets replaced by Katie Holmes. Her husband is caught cheating with Idaho's nanny and all of her assets are frozen during the divorce proceedings. How could things get any worse?

Enter Henry Sladowski. After coming to town only a few months before, Henry has snatched up all the available housing, stripped them to their studs and put cookie-cutter homes in their places. Now that he's sold most of the properties to rich New York lawyers and businessmen, Henry has set his sights on being mayor (if only to cut property taxes to hike up property values). He also has his sights set on Stella, turning her into the perfect trophy wife and arm candy for his campaign. This leads to mixed feelings for Mary Jean Wright, Stella's childhood best friend. Henry is threatening to evict Mary Jean and her family of six so he can flip their home. He's also agreed to appoint Mary Jean's husband, Pete (who just happens to be Stella's first boyfriend), police chief when he becomes mayor. While the extra money would be nice, what's the point if they have nowhere to live and nowhere to go? What's even more heartbreaking for Mary Jean is that Stella can't seem to see what a vile man Henry truly is.

As these two childhood friends reunite and struggle to get over the past while dealing with the present, tempers flare and friendships are tested. Everything is at stake—homes, careers and even lives. What are a couple of SUBURBANISTAS supposed to do?

Disguised under yet another pink Chick Lit cover, Pamela Redmond Satran has actually written a delightfully lighthearted story about two middle-aged women dealing with very real issues of family, sexuality and loss. Her characters aren't simply bimbos trying to land a man or get the perfect job; instead, they try to do what's right for themselves and their families while holding everything together amidst crisis after crisis. Funny, sexy and heartwarming, SUBURBANISTAS makes the perfect Sunday afternoon read.