Weekend Diaries

    Blindsided by her husband's admission of infidelity with a woman she thought was her friend, Samantha Winslow, a young divorce lawyer in New York City, gets handed a leave of absence from her high powered job in order to pull her life back together. She heads for the shore town of Crescent Beach, New Jersey just as the summer is heading into full swing. But decadence and debauchery, which typifies the life of a single woman at a shore resort, is not what she's after. Sam wants peace of mind and the only way she knows how to get it is to spend a weekend with each of her high school friends.
    Alyssa, a nurse, has been married for two years to a fireman who would rather hang with the guys or fiddle with his boat, so she finds romance — or is it lust — with an ER doctor on the loose.
    Denise, happily married to a corporate business type, gave up her career as a big city banker to stay home and raise the kids.
    Nicki, a recording executive, broke her engagement with her long-time love, and revels in her independence and ability to play the field with no cumbersome attachments.
    Tess, the manager of a health club, with a disappointing first marriage, has embraced an alternative lifestyle with her partner, Lilly, and
    Charlotte, a teacher, has learned to forgive and forget her husband's past infidelity, begging Sam to give her husband another chance before walking away.
    To add to the confusion, Sam finds a distraction in Michael McCain, the local prosecutor and small town lawyer, who makes her blood boil and heart stop when she sees him, which for her sanity seems to be far too often. Whether playing beach volley ball in wild swim trunks riding low on his hips or in Municipal Court in a white starched shirt and silk tie, he has female heads turning; especially hers.
    Given Nicki and Alyssa's take on affairs, what would be the harm in embarking on a summer fling with a gorgeous guy who should be on the cover of GQ? What a great distraction from her current woes. Perfect for him. Perfect for her. And what could be wrong with feeling like a desirable woman again; something that has eluded her since her husband's defection. But in her other ear are Denise and Charlotte, the "give your husband another chance" women who stand by their vows and consider marriage sacred. So what if he strayed. He'll be back. And you should probably be there when he returns; for your happiness depends on it.
    Sam had hoped that reconnecting with the women who had defined her teen years would help her define her destiny. But she soon learns that it's up to her, and her alone, to decide which direction she'll take.

Read Chapter 1 of Weekend Diaries >

Island Fever

    Ending up in an erotic calendar called "Teachers Gone Wild" is not part of the conservative image that Sophie Kearns has worked so hard to obtain. At the Valen School, a prestigious, private high school in NJ, she's an English Lit teacher, not a centerfold. Although she'd modeled throughout her college days, she'd never posed nude. Yet this photo is clearly missing her polka dot bikini.
    In an instant, her reputation, her job and her future as the soon-to-be youngest Chair of the English Department and eventual Headmaster, are in jeopardy. If an investigation doesn't uncover the truth, than everything she's struggled so hard to achieve, will be lost.
    Forced to take a sabbatical while the investigation ensues, Sophie accepts an offer from her former colleague and friend for a temporary teaching position at the Sunrise Island School in the Florida Keys — a semester abroad-type school that teaches high school students about protecting the environment. Of course, she'd only be teaching a few English Lit courses. How hard could it be? She hadn't bargained on the fact her "outdoor skills" would be as important as her classroom skills. And her lack of the former has her at a distinct disadvantage from day one.
    Max Heaton, the no-nonsense Ecology teacher and master outdoorsman, is determined to start an environmental research institute at the school. But Sophie's friend, the Headmaster, hasn't given him the go ahead, preferring to wait until the school gains a bigger reputation through slow and methodic word-of-mouth, while Max's strategy encourages hit-em-hard advertising.
    Not only does Max question the Headmaster's conservative plan for the school, he really can't understand why he just hired a snooty new teacher from a northeastern prep school who obviously doesn't know the difference between a kayak and a canoe. While she might be pretty, in a plain sort of way — if she gets rid of her conservative walking shorts and buttoned down blouses — it appears as if she hasn't seen a sun ray in years. Just what is she doing here?
    Within a week of Sophie's arrival, the Headmaster is severely injured in a boating accident and his injuries will take months to heal. Much to her surprise, he requests that Sophie step in as acting Headmaster, since she knows his philosophy for the school. For it was Sophie who had helped him write the grant proposal, which got his school off the ground.
    It's obvious to Max that he should have been chosen to fill in, and further, it would have given him the opportunity to show what a little well-placed advertising could do for the school. Now he's going to have to follow the lead of a novice, who will surely conform to the Headmaster's conservative plan for the school.
    Missteps and misunderstandings seem to define Max and Sophie's relationship until a chance meeting on the beach. It becomes obvious to Max that Sophie is a warm, caring person who not only works well with others to develop extraordinary programs, but who also loves teaching. Yet she appears bent on becoming the Headmaster at Valen in the future. Something doesn't quite make sense to him about her sabbatical, but the electricity buzzing between them displaces his quest to find out. What he does learn is that the nearness of her body has him fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, and when he does, the shock waves move like a current through his blood.
    Max's sincerity about his plans and the reasons behind them, turns Sophie inside out and they both end up sharing pieces of themselves that they haven't shared with others. Sophie fights off her internal turmoil and basks in the warmth of their new found friendship. Yet, she feels much more. Before long, all discussion falls by the wayside as Max and Sophie find their way into each other's arms. But their bond is short lived. Sophie's job as acting headmaster isn't to make new policy. It's to keep the status quo, no matter how enticing Max's dream may be. And Max sees his dream slipping through his fingers.
    What will it take to set Sophie and Max on the same course? Or are they destined to be two ships passing in the night?

Read Chapter 3 of Island Fever >