It is the mid-seventies in Detroit, Michigan, a time of change. Vietnam has finally ground to its melodramatic end and the 60's, exhausted and defeated, have fizzled out as well. The body politic still reels from Watergate and Nixon's subsequent resignation. Race relations are everywhere problematic, nowhere more so than in Detroit.

The city is also dealing with the auto industry being forced, for the first time, to comply with federal pollution and safety standards, an imposition many inside the industry, and out, view as high-handed and onerous. Area residents, Tim and Cassandra Hauser carry on anyway, aware of the upheaval about them but not of the turmoil they are about to foist upon themselves.

Their best friends, Jesse and Karin Whitmore, suggest a two-week vacation sailing around the Caribbean in a rented sailboat. To help defray costs, a third couple is also invited, other friends of Jesse and Karin's who Tim and Cassandra have never actually met. It proves to be the vacation of a lifetime, a bacchanalia of sun and sea and skin. Consequences necessarily ensue. When they return home all find their lives irrevocably altered.

This novel, then, is about transition and resolve, cause and effect. You are invited to come along for the ride. The road is sometimes bumpy and the sea occasionally choppy but the destination is nonetheless worthy, hopefully, of the obstacles encountered along the way. Bring along a good book to read.

Jerry is a well-educated man. Not only does he have a college degree, but he's street-smart, having grown up selling drugs on the streets of Savannah, Georgia. He enlists in the army, but upon his return to civilian life, he goes back to his old, dangerous ways. After receiving his MBA, though, he finally realizes it's time to move on; he heads to far-off Chicago, Illinois, looking for a new, clean start. He meets Karen-a beautiful woman who seemingly comes from a different world. She is highly educated, and her family fought brave battles in the Civil Rights movement. Jerry can't help himself; he falls head-over-heels in love. Karen shows him a way to live a life of love, but she also shows him how to love "her"-in the bedroom and out. It's never easy to escape the past, though, as Jerry soon discovers. Along with his newfound feelings for Karen, the skeletons in his closet come knocking. Can two people from different places and different backgrounds survive the sins of the past? In order to defeat dangerous obstacles, Jerry and Karen will have to lean on their passion for one another-or else fall into old habits and lost love.

Carmen Smith has always struggled to make the right decisions. She's never been able to stand up for herself, especially when her husband, Erin, is involved. She feels trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who has never been able to honor his vows. She finds some comfort in her role as a high school science teacher, but she wants more from life. Deep down, she hopes that she'll find the strength to make the hard decisions, but she fears what might happen when she does.

Now she's facing a truly life-changing decision, and her lonely heart and her rational mind are at war. When a handsome and charming student sets his sights on her, can she resist? Will the challenges and rewards of forbidden love trump reason-or her respect for the law?

Her student, senior Tavon Holmes, is a talented player, on and off the football field. He's working hard to catch the eye of recruiters, but he is distracted by the conflict between what his young body wants and what his future needs. He's falling for his teacher, and neither can resist the attraction for long.

The teacher and her student are drawn to each other in ways neither of them could predict or believe. Each must decide if they will allow lust to threaten their future. When they finally give in to their desires, the unexpected happens-changing many lives in the process.