In Pursuit of the White Jade Dragon — M.L. Ray

The winds of change are about to blow through Cuddlesack Queens once again, with a great deal of force. Some months following the tragic death of Annajane Merrill Quinley Kendricks, her widowed husband, Roger, arranges a memorial service for friends and neighbors. At his home, afterward, his Cuddlesack guests are doing their best to seem outwardly respectful while enjoying a good gossip fest. During her brief lifetime, Annajane had hurt far too many people, and no one can muster up the slightest praise for her accomplishments or regret for her passing in a eulogy. Sophie Chance, an archaeologist of some renown, is very much taken with Roger's art collection: oil paintings, sculptures, tapestries, fine porcelains. But she is especially interested in what looks like a Chinese dynasty piece, exquisitely carved from mottled white jade into a standing dragon. It is during this gathering that Sophie, who is married to Wainright, a rather stodgy college professor, for seven years, meets Simon Reese. Simon easily captures the attention of every woman present. As a male model at the fashion magazine owned by Theodosia Stoner, for whom he works and with whom he lives, Simon's beauty is stunning. And Sophie is immediately, hopelessly, smitten. Romantic intrigue between various players in the drama, always somehow centering around the mysterious white jade dragon, abounds, with one never quite sure what another is up to. Things are further complicated when the piece disappears from its niche. Then devil-may-care romance lapses into finger-pointing suspicion. Involving every resident of the Cuddlesack.