Historical novelist Winchinchala, (THE LIFE & Loves of Mariner Jackie Vik; A Little Cit Indian in the 1950's) turns her considerable talents to capturing the mysteries of romance in these short stories. Her realistic dialogue, sensual descriptions and clear prose summon a few of her favorite authors, Tennessee Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Of her characters who hunger for authentic emotional connectedness, for lust or the rare, immortal love of fairy tales, she explains, "Once in a great while, their dreams come true, but when they don't, they bury who they are in a corner of their hearts and stay. Putting up with toothpaste in the sink, snoring that sounds like drunken buffalo, displeasure between the sheets, infidelity and on and on, they compromise their happiness." Winchinchala finds and illuminates the complicated simplicity in being only human.