It could be the chance of a lifetime.

Imagine if you had to reinvent yourself. You’d have to move, change jobs, leave your old life completely behind. You’d need to give up friends and old haunts, favorite shops and best-loved restaurants. The options would be limitless. The ideas, wide-open. Where would you begin?

In the new book “Priceless” by Nicole Richie, a young woman starts over at the other end of the country. She sees no other choice.

There was nothing that 22-year-old Charlotte Williams wanted that she couldn’t have. And Charlotte wanted plenty.

Her father, Josh, made sure she never lacked for luxuries. He gave Charlotte jewelry, a pony, a fancy apartment, a pricey education, and a year in France. His money allowed her to shop at the finest Manhattan boutiques and wear the best designer couture on her size-0 frame. His staff kept her safe. His contacts kept her out of jail when she torched a building in a lover’s snit.

But life turned upside-down the day that Josh Williams was arrested. For ages – ever since the death of his model-wife, Jackie – Josh had been defrauding clients. The FBI and the SEC arrested him, and they seized his assets and Charlotte’s.

Alone and near-penniless for the first time in her life, Charlotte tried to keep up appearances but that was impossible. She had nowhere to live, first of all, and she felt responsible for cleaning up at least some of her father’s mess. Besides, his former clients – the people he defrauded – were taking their anger out on her. A mere walk in Central Park was like running a gauntlet.

Scared for her life, Charlotte realized that she needed to leave New York immediately, and go where her father’s mistakes didn’t much matter. The safest place she knew was in the arms of her former nanny, Miss Millie, who lived in New Orleans.

But life in The Big Easy wasn’t easy, either. Miss Millie’s son, Jackson, harbored old resentments. Louisiana’s media was eager to get the scoop on the ill-fated heiress. And as Charlotte settled in, made friends, and worked the first job she ever had in her life, her cell phone began to ring.

Somebody from her father’s past wanted revenge. Josh Williams’ crime killed the man’s dreams. Now that man wanted to kill the most precious thing Josh Williams had…
I have to admit that I scoffed and snorted when I got this book. I also have to admit that I was wrong. “Priceless” ain’t half bad.

Although there are a few bumps and knots in the storyline, author Nicole Richie weaves a tale of a poor little rich girl who finds out that money isn’t everything. That might sound like a dozen other novels on bookshelves, but Richie gives the story a few twists and her characters are surprisingly well-fleshed. Overall, while this book is fluffy as a cloud, it’s also quite satisfying.

If you’re in the mood for literary low-calorie, give this one a whirl. For you, “Priceless” is worth a chance.