Now an Apple TV+ limited series called Palm Royale, starring Kristin Wiig, Ricky Martin, and Laura Dern

"Sarah Mollo-Christensen and Jonathan Todd Ross perfectly narrate this hilarious story.... Mollo-Christensen instills smugness and frustration with every huffy stream of profanity that comes from Maxine. Ross voices Robert in a calm and collected tone and gives an adolescent neighbor excited bursts of speech. Maxine builds an unlikely family while working toward her goal of winning a pageant. Hers is a delightfully vivid journey with expertly voiced characters." (AudioFile magazine)

Narrators Sarah Mollo-Christensen and Jonathan Todd Ross bring Juliet McDaniel's first novel to vivid Technicolor life with the banter of a zany, screwball comedy.

It's 1969 and Palm Springs socialite Maxine Simmons is planning a Thanksgiving feast to rival Nixon's stealthy maneuvers in the White House and Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. With a catered menu to die for and a dining room that looks like it's been ripped from the glossy pages of a magazine, her entrance to high society is all but assured.

Then comes the humiliation of being dumped by her husband of 17 years for his 22-year-old secretary. Banished to Scottsdale, Arizona, the disgraced Maxine languishes in exile. Inspired by a stolen copy of Napoleon's bio from the local library, she suddenly gets an idea of how she can win it all back. First she must transform this nondescript condo into her own fabulous Elba. Then the determined divorcee sets her sights on the Mrs. American Pie Pageant, so she can be declared the best wife and mother in all the land.

The only hitch? She doesn't have any children, or even a husband. Undaunted, Maxine sets out to create her own perfect family and win the comeback crown of her dreams. No wonder Big Little Lies actress Laura Dern calls Maxine "a gorgeously messy and misguided heroine." Like the Pink Lady cocktails she tosses back and the blue convertible she drives around town, Maxine's redemption is a screamingly hilarious detour that's colorful, tart, and refreshingly sweet.