The idea of spending the winter working in a tropical paradise is too tantalizing for Melissa Catterly to resist. On an impulse, she accepts a job as a gourmet chef aboard a sixty-five foot sailing yacht bound for the Caribbean.

When the boat sets sail on an eight-day trip from North Carolina to the Virgin Islands, she and Hunt Stewart, the charismatic captain, are strangers. Love has never been kind to Melissa and she resolves to remain only his shipmate and friend. Hunt is devoted to the boat and the sea and not inclined to compromise his lifestyle.

But through their time working together in the ship’s close quarters and taking excursions to beautiful, pristine beaches, they begin to form a close bond and deep affection for each other. Melissa has a secret, though, that could tear them apart forever. She can only hope that the tropical trade winds bring good fortune and not more heartache.

Kathleen Mix has a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Connecticut. But as an avid sailor and licensed charter captain, she has chosen to spend the past fifteen years roaming the U.S. coastline and exploring the tropical islands of South America and the Caribbean.

Her nonfiction articles appeared in national sailing magazines and regional boating publications.

A Trade Wind Season is her first novel for Avalon.