Imagine an email describing the ultimate gay cruise on a brand new ship called The Paradise-built especially for the gay community. This ship has it all: shopping, Broadway shows, fabulous restaurants and clubs, swimming pools and casinos. And the maiden voyage is just about to depart from glamorous Singapore for the South China Sea, Bali and Australia. It's a dream trip that would be hard to resist. Who responds to these emails? What kind of people will be on this ship? From California to Florida, from Oregon to New York, from Arizona to Texas, Gangplank follows five "couples" from across the country who have some very interesting reasons for buying a ticket on The Paradise. Daisy and Oliver are mother and son. As national president of GASP (Gay Allies Siblings and Parents) she is determined to improve her gay son's love life She doesn't know his love life has already improved without her help Ed and Cliff have been together for 45 years. But Ed is keeping a secret. Is an anniversary cruise part of it or a way out of it? Mollianne and Van are a Texas debutante and her gay first husband. Sometimes ex-wives make the best girlfriends and Van in called upon to prove his friendship. When Mollianne experiences some hard life lessons, Van puts his own budding romance on hold for her. Dennis and Chad, two "theater people" in a May/September romance, are headed for a high seas honeymoon if an old love from the past doesn't sink the ship. It would be high drama if they weren't so much in love. And finally, Mitch and Ronnie were college roommates and have been best friends ever since. There friendship is healthier than their love lives. A cruise will help them mend their broken hearts and other body parts and prove that friendship might be the best kind of love after all. There's plotting and scheming, a few white lies and some shabby grey ones, too. There is high romance and low comedy, Tom Ford sweaters and Botox, a vintage Mustang and Neiman-Marcus. Five very different stories about love. And what brings them all together? The promise of a fantastic voyage where they can break and heal, cry and laugh, forget and remember that ends with a poignant good-bye to one of them. And it all happens before they even get on board the ship Remember that this isn't a story about a cruise. We've already got The Love Boat for that. This is a story about how to get to the Gangplank