Reviewed by Gloria Antypowich for Readers' Favorite

Tran McClintock (Mr Major League Baseball himself) is very rich, lives in an enormous mansion, parties hard and wild, picks up women everywhere and can do and have anything he wants. But, he has fallen head over heels in love with Angelica-Negrete, and he wants to marry her. She has grown up in a totally different world and while it is fun, in some ways she is uncomfortable with the extremes. Her life has been painful; she doesn't know what love is or how to love, let alone know for sure if Tran really loves her. She has doubts if she can trust his declarations, but she hopes that marriage will settle them.

This book is built around the framework of planning the wedding. Angie and Tran go to book the wedding ceremony and then she goes to the hall of records to get her original birth certificate so that she can get the passport she will need for the honeymoon. She learns that her birth information is fake and there is no record of her birth. Confused and filled with disbelief, she is suddenly questioning whether everything she has been told about herself in her whole life is fake too. She decides to get some answers from her foster mother, but when she calls Tran to tell him what has happened, she learns that Mother Consuelo has been murdered. Dejected, she realizes that all chance of finding out about her birth is gone. Freaked out, she drives around, trying to make some sense of the situation. She finally stops in front of her old therapist’s office and frantically cuts herself on both wrists with a razor that she keeps in her car, just for such release. Then she staggers into Dr. Marilyn Colbert’s office. They had met while Angie was a student in her Sociology Lectures at Compton College. Angie had run out of the room crying when the class discussed love, human desires and other things that make life meaningful. Realizing that she needed help, Dr. Colbert asked Angie to stay, and she offered her therapy pro-bono on weekends. The therapy sessions didn't reveal much, but Angie kept in touch with her, sending her gifts and a card every year after they ended. It has been several years since she has seen Angie but the doctor takes her inside and stops the bleeding. This contact results in more sessions of therapy and Dr. Colbert begins an endless search to unravel the mystery of Angie’s birth. Angie and Tran continue to plan an elaborate wedding, and Angie seems to become more settled. Her biggest regret is that her “best friend” Satanya has become confrontational and withdrawn since Angie has agreed to marry Tan. Tan tries to reach out to Satanya to make Angie happy, but she doesn't respond and Angie feels the disappointment of loss.

The plot of this story is so skilfully woven that I didn't see what was coming until it happened. I found the use of coarse language distracting at first but then I realized it was used in a cultural context. The book ended on a “to be continued” note and I would like to read the next part.