First published 1996
Stella Payne has mastered the juggling act. At forty-two, she manages portfolios by day and Little League carpools by evening, raises her eleven-year-old son Quincy as a single mother, and maintains her BMW and chic lifestyle through sheer determination. Romance has taken a backseat to responsibility, and Stella tells herself she's too busy for complications anyway. Then she takes an impulsive trip to Jamaica. The island works its magic immediately. Sun, sea, and a parade of attractive men offer tempting distractions, but one man stops her cold. He's tall, soft-spoken, Jamaican, and twenty-one years old. The age gap should matter, but under the tropical spell, conventional rules dissolve. As this unexpected connection deepens, Stella faces a crossroads that forces her to examine everything she believed about love, life, and the careful boundaries she's built around both. McMillan tells this story in Stella's own vibrant voice, mixing humor with raw honesty as her protagonist confronts the choice between playing it safe and risking everything for a chance at genuine happiness.
Genres: romance, adult-fiction, contemporary-romance, womens-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, second-chance
Setting: Jamaica
Period: Contemporary
Audio Cassette · Penguin Audio