The day that Alice has been hoping, wishing, and waiting for has finally arrived: Her father and Sylvia Summers are getting married! But Alice soon discovers that having the stepmother of her dreams doesn't necessarily make her life perfect. Suddenly there's another woman sharing the bathroom, and her father and Sylvia are making decisions about her house without consulting her. Sometimes Alice feels like an outsider in her own home.

But at least her father and Sylvia are blissfully happy together, which certainly isn't true of Alice's friends. Everyone seems to be having relationship problems. Elizabeth and Ross never see each other; Leslie and Lori are breaking up; and Pamela and her mother can't even talk to each other. And what's going on with Patrick?Is "Happily Ever After" only in fairy tales?