<b>From the author of the acclaimed <I>The Opposite of Me</i>, a poignant, witty novel about marriage, forgiveness, and the choices that give shape—and limits—to our lives.</b><P>                                                                             <P>What would you do if your husband suddenly wanted to rewrite all of the rules of your relationship?  This is the question at the heart of <I>Skipping a Beat</i>, Pekkanen's thought-provoking second book. <P>From the outside, Julia and Michael seem to have it all.  Both products of difficult childhoods in rural West Virginia – where they were simply Julie and Mike – they become high school sweethearts and fall in love.  Shortly after graduation, they flee their small town to start afresh.  Now thirty-somethings, they are living a rarified life in their multi-million-dollar, Washington D.C. home. Julia is a highly sought-after party planner, while Michael has just sold his wildly successful flavored water company for $70 million. <P>But one day, Michael collapses in his office. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts his heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man. Money is meaningless to him - and he wants to give it all away. Julia, who sees bits of her life reflected in scenes from the world's great operas, is now facing with a choice she never anticipated. Should she should walk away from the man she once adored – but who truthfully became a stranger to her long before this pronouncement - or give in to her husband's pleas for a second chance and a promise of a poorer but happier life?  <P>As wry and engaging as her debut, but with quiet depth and newfound maturity, <I>Skipping a Beat</i> is an unforgettable portrait of a marriage whose glamorous surface belies the complications and betrayals beneath.<P><b> </b>