Wedding Belles    by Haywood Smith Order:  USA  Can St. Martin's, 2009 (2009) Paperback Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Joan Burton The Red Hat Club ladies are back in the sequel to the Red Hat Club Rides Again, Wedding Belles. If you haven't read any of the series, this is a great standalone read. It is filled with words of wisdom and heartwarming characters. The Red Hat ladies live in Atlanta, Georgia. They have been friends since childhood and now in mid life they need each other more than ever. Teeny, Diane, Pru, Linda, and Georgia meet for lunch to catch up, complain, and to de-stress. They share tea, laughs, and sympathy. Georgia has just found out her only daughter Callie, at twenty-seven, is engaged to be married. She should be over the moon with happiness but Callie is marrying her father's best friend, Wade 'Wild Man' Bowman. At sixty years of age he is a successful florist, recovering alcoholic, and a divorced father of adult children. Georgia and most of the community know Wade's reputation, and she wants something better for Callie. After filling in the Red Hat ladies on her problem, Georgia plans to hire a private detective to investigate Wade's daily routine. She is sure if she finds something on Wade she can talk Callie out of the upcoming marriage and save her from future heartache. The plan backfires on Georgia when Callie learns of her mother's betrayal and she is forbidden to come near Callie or to attend the wedding. Georgia and other members of the Red Hat Club are experiencing trials in their lives. They rally round and support each other in any way they can. Georgia learns she has to make peace with the past and let Callie make her own decisions, even if she does not agree with them. Wedding Belles is laugh out loud funny and loaded with Southern wit and charm. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews