Pleasure, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. Paradise, however, is a rarer state—a fleeting moment of happiness or euphoria, seldom found and best shared. Each of these couples discovers that paradise in a different place, under different circumstances.

Yet words can be strung together into a sentence that becomes an arrow, piercing another’s heart. And sometimes an insignificant event from the distant past returns without warning, tearing apart that hard-won happiness when it is least expected.

The author lives in Northern California on 25 acres with her husband, after living in the San Diego area for 30 years. They have two sons and three grandchildren and are now retired. She worked in the corporate world for decades, owned her own business, and co-hosted a radio talk show for three years, until she was forced to retire due to a major medical challenge.