Kat Stoddard

wasp’s nest

An artist and recovering alcoholic attends his wealthy ex-wife’s Cape Cod wedding with a chaotic young writer as his plus one, resulting in an increasingly complicated love triangle over the course of seven days. 

Tess Lowell wants nothing more than her upcoming wedding on Cape Cod to overshadow the failure of her first marriage. When her ex-husband, adjunct art professor Peter Hyun, receives an unexpected invitation, he decides to attend—and to bring Maynard “Mitch” Mitchell, the aspiring novelist he’s just met, as his plus one.

As the wedding approaches, Tess’s politician fiancé, Type A sister, prankster brother, and lawyer best friend strive to keep things on track, but they harbor their own secrets, each one a potential threat to the weekend agenda. WASP’S NEST is a contemporary homage to the 1940 film The Philadelphia Story, and an exploration of how loving another person, whether in a romantic, platonic, or familial way, shapes our sense of self.

WASP’S NEST is forthcoming from Celadon Books in 2026.