Skylar Hood's life was characterized by dysfunction, disappointment, and tragedy from the start. Realizing that there was no love to be found on the streets, she learned quickly how to fend for herself in order to survive. It was within the hustle and rollercoaster of her everyday life that the desire for more than Long Beach had to offer emerged.

Taken in by her aunt and her saintly uncle, Randy, after abandonment by her mother, Skylar was launched into a world of love and entertainment that quickly began to shape her worldview. Surrounded by cousins who became like brothers and sisters to her, she reached toward a life beyond the one she knew--one that she would need to make happen all on her own.

From failed relationships, to hopeful, new ones, to familial losses, every joy that comes her way is punctuated by pain, requiring her to once again find the will to survive. Just when she thinks she's done taking trips to hell and back and that there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, the devil creeps up to prove that he isn't finished with her yet.

These never ending tribulations bring her face-to-face with the most important life questions: What is the method to this madness called life? Would she get her happily ever after? If she did, how much more of that madness could she take in order to get there?