Gigi’s trailblazing daughter Mara is drawn to men living on the edge. A graduate student in zoology, Mara returns from research on a primate preserve in Tanzania secretly mourning a risk-taking Australian investigative reporter. After acquiring her doctorate, Mara pursues a law degree specializing in legal protection of animals, while becoming emotionally entangled with a reckless and intriguing trickster whose origin is disturbingly entwined with hers.

In the new millennium, Mara sets off on a game-changing lineage trail, discovering an ancestral legacy rooted in a foundational event of the American experience. Then Mara is invited by her intellectual hero to play a key role in a visionary initiative evolving in a scenic and vibrant locale, where she forms significant friendships with the diverse women of a uniquely extended family.

Mara also connects with two men. One is an emotionally scarred and spiritually wise self-healer she comes to respect. The other is a combat-hardened veteran who kindles her curiosity. Mara sees this mysterious warrior as another danger-prone male, not realizing that this time it is her life that is on the line.