You'd think, now that she's off the hook for murder, that Alison, an English professor at a cushy college campus just north of chaotic New York City, would be able to relax. But how can she, with a wedding in the works? A Ph.D can only go so far… The recently-divorced Alison couldn't be happier for her best friend, the bride Max. The problem is with the groom. Namely, his best man: the stunningly handsome yet technically married NYPD homicide...

"Here is Cheryl, a tightly-wound, vulnerable woman who lives alone, with a perpetual lump in her throat. She is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people's babies. Cheryl is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women's self-defense nonprofit where she works. She believes they've been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one. When Cheryl's bosses...