Mary Hollis Huddleston Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Mary Hollis Huddleston
Mary Hollis Huddleston is a Nashville native that loves entertaining at home, however she is also an incredibly busy woman. She doesn’t have the time, nor does she want to be in the DIY business. She believes in the power of “delegation”, in that by utilizing all of the amazing party-resources available, you are able to actually fully enjoy celebrating life creatively and hosting gorgeous events.

Mary loved planning parties, for a while, so much that she made a living doing it for other people. She began in the event planning business in Dallas just after graduating college. One baby, one marriage, and eight years later, she “retired” from wedding planning, and returned to Nashville in order to settle down permanently. Texas is great, but she grew sick of teasing her hair and missed fruit tea and Georgian architecture.

She and her husband started Please Be Seated, which is an event rental company, which makes it incredibly convenient for her to rent items for parties that she hosts at home. It’s just a small perk from her crazy day job.

Mary is a working Southern woman that loves welcoming people into her home and throwing dinner parties, however she doesn’t have the energy nor time to spend hours on Pinterest, decorating or cooking herself. Thankfully, times have changed, and it’s no longer necessary to have to rely on only ourselves to make things happen. In fact, it is actually so much easier if we don’t. From catering, iced cookies, flowers, invitations, she will share inspiration, ideas, and contacts that’ll hopefully make your life just a little easier one cocktail party at a time.

She graduated from CPA and then went to TCU in Ft. Worth. Mary was a broadcast journalism major however happened to take a class her senior year about the business side of wedding planning. After graduation, she quickly realized that full time ‘on-air’ life was not for her, even though she does enjoy doing guest TV segments, and (having been inspired by that class) pivoted to the world of events.

She was raised with faith and family as the touchstones of her life and attempts to replicate that same ethos with her own kids.

While growing up, she danced for years and is hilariously a dance mom. One particularly fun school memory is organizing her junior/senior prom. It was on the job training for her future career in events.

“Without a Hitch” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2021. Lottie Jones is hopeless, ringless, and jobless and commits to doing the single thing that she really studied in school: wedding planning.

When Lottie Jones (an unlucky in love and floundering twenty-something) lands herself a new career as a wedding planner at this top-tier boutique even firm, she starts navigating her way through this cutthroat workplace that specializes in unlimited budgets, over the top details, and a broad spectrum of taste. Whether she is wrangling intoxicated groomsmen or planning for parachute landings, she definitely has got her hands full at every million dollar wedding she helps organize.

Lottie, after her boss announces that he is opening up a new office, sees her chance to carve her place out finally, and earn an income for herself that justifies her dating app subscription fees. The weddings get larger, the clients get wilder, the mishaps get even funnier, and the stakes continue getting higher. And Lottie is forced to learn what she will risk for love and just how far she will go in order to find herself.

Set against the glamorous and ruthless world of high-end Southern weddings and inspired by some real events in the authors’ own lives, this is a hilarious romp about taking ownership, facing your fears, planning your ex-boyfriend’s, and picking a happy ending that was not what you had once expected.

“Emily in Paris” meets “Sweet Home Alabama” in a hilarious romp through the world of extravagant southern weddings.

This is a sweet Southern confection of a novel that is about what it really takes to orchestrate everybody else’s happily ever after once your own heart has been broken. It’s a sneak peek into the world of high end wedding planning which will keep you laughing while Lottie deconstructs the fairy tale and finds her authentic self.

“Piece of Cake” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2023. She is just trying to save her reputation and her job.

Claire Sommers grew up as a society girl that was destined to have everything: high-powered career, tasteful Dallas mansion, rich and hot husband. Until one massive mistake left her reputation in tatters and her trust fund frozen. Now this former debutante is just scraping by as a magazine staffer in Nashville, trading in her designer stilettos and diamonds for cowgirl boots and rhinestones.

However all’s not well in the world of print publications. Piece of Cake, which is the beloved Southern wedding magazine she works at, is just an issue away from going under. Thankfully, she’s got a plan to save the day and the magazine: a reality show-style docuseries on the South’s most outlandish and over-the-top nuptials. And with Elvis impersonators, country music royalty, and just enough drama to make your mama faint, it just so happens Tennessee is the perfect setting for unscripted wedding day magic. Her boss loves this idea of Claire’s so much that she even brings in “The Brides’ Man”, social media star and New York native Dominic Gravino, to partner up with Claire on this project, despite her protestations.

Dominic’s East Coast charisma and confidence clash with Claire’s Southern breeding and independent spirit while these unlikely collaborators try and create a series which will save Piece of Cake. However in between two-stepping bachelorette parties, million-dollar weddings, and hot chicken fiascos, Dom and Claire realize that they make a great team, both on and off the job. However letting go of old hurts is tougher than she imagines, and she soon realizes that she has to come to terms with what happened in her past if she is ever going to embrace the present.