The Phoenix Syndrome

A Second Chance Romance

Turning forty, for Lannie Marvin, is rough. It’s the day she discovers her husband is leaving her for a younger “soulmate.” Her only son is packing for a new life on the other coast. At work, a crazed mouse being treated with an experimental drug brutally bites her. Can anybody say "midlife crisis"?

Lannie snaps.

Seems she’s recently developed a serious crush on the drummer of her son’s favorite heavy metal band. She kidnaps her sister-in-law and heads toward Bethel, New York – the site of the original Woodstock concert. Just so happens Dreamwish is playing a concert there, and Lannie has tickets.

Tristan Allard, the band’s drummer, holds this benefit every year in memory of his wife, whom he lost to breast cancer. It's been five years, and he's getting damn lonely. So when a sexually charged Lannie literally plows into him at the backstage reception, Tristan is ready to learn more about her – and her long-buried interest in musical composition.

The two head off for a wild ride of a weekend, but reality boomerangs around way too soon. Tristan is headed to the UK to audition his next album’s scores. And an elevated libido isn’t the only side-effect of that experimental drug.