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    "WANTED: FIRST MATE"  is a character driven mystery novel about a young girl who is filled with the dreams of marrying a millionaire yachtsman -- a fantasy society places in most girl’s hearts from the time they start playing with dolls.

    Twenty-three year old Ellie Johnson has the looks, the appeal, and certainly the intelligence to accomplish her goal. Ellie started her life by running away over a trivial incident when she was 13 years old. Adopted by a family in Philadelphia, she has changed her name so that she cannot be returned home by the authorities. At 18, she meets a college student whom she marries when she gets pregnant. In love and enjoying her new life, one night he disappears, taking their two year old child with him. In fact, he "disappears so far into the fabric of American society" that her adoptive family cannot locate him.

     Ellie leaves and soon ends up on a small island in the Bahamas surviving, along with her friend Sandy, as one of the seasonal boat babes. Sandy, however, knows her limitations and has set her sights on a realistic goal. Sandy wants to meet "an ordinary, almost boring man who will help me raise the three children we’ll have together." Sandy returns to Miami with the man she meets, leaving Ellie behind to seek her multi-millionaire. 

     It is now eight years later and Ellie Johnson has been married to Brent L. Livingston III during that time. They are heading out to the Caribbean. A hurricane is on its way, and after fighting, Brent has an irrational fear that Ellie might do something impulsive, like jump overboard.
    

     She has to ask the question, "How have I ended up being tied to the mast of my husband's yacht?"

     Brent returns to shore alone.