What are the secrets and lies that plague the US Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the only American military base on Communist soil? What are the harsh realities Abbey Whitfield faces in her unsung position as Navy wife, unequivocally the toughest job in the Navy? In Secrets Unbecoming, P. Elizabeth Collins riveting debut novel, a fenceline bordered with land mines and guarded by the toughest US Marines, is the backdrop for the tremendous burdens Abbey Whitfield is compelled to endure for the sake of her already failing marriage and ultimately her husbands career.

Abbeys fairytale marriage to her childhood sweetheart has been in an uncontrollable downward spiral since she suffered a miscarriage. Her main goal is to save her almost ashes marriage. When her husband, Machinist Mate First Class Kevin Whitfield, is offered orders to Guantanamo Bay, she readily agrees to join him. He promises her that the Caribbean paradise will be the perfect setting for them to regain what they have come so close to losing, each other. He also convinces her that serving in Gtmo will send his career soaring. She understands how badly Kevin wants to become an officer and if Cuba could make it all happen for him, that was another major reason to accept the orders. Soon after arriving on the dry, barren and virtually isolated Naval Station, Abbey realizes that encouraging Kevin to accept those orders proved to be her biggest mistake.

She becomes entangled in a suffocating web of secrets so profound, and lies so damaging that the only two things she had ever wanted, her marriage and a family, now seem unattainable. But through it all, she cannot bring herself to give up.

Abbey is sexuallly harassed by Kevins commanding officer, the one man who has the power to advance Kevins career or destroy him completely. When the commander begins stalking Abbey on the small base, she confronts Kevin, who in turn accuses her of pursuing his boss.

The downfall of her marriage is further fueled by her husbands on-going affair with a younger woman , a woman who has the one precious gift Abbey cannot compete with, a child.

Surrounded on three sides by Communist territory and on the other by the vast Caribbean Sea, there is no place for Abbey to run except to the caring and compassionate arms of Marine Corporal Jack Parker. Like Abbey, Jack too, has some heavy crosses to bear.

Secrets Unbecoming is an absorbing story of passion and conspiracy combined with sexual, physical and emotional abuse. However, the harmonizing balance of romance and drama amongst the challenges of living in an emotional war zone make for an exhilarating read.

P. Elizabeth Collins is a career Navy wife who has traveled the globe. She now resides in Wisconsin with her husband Bob, and is working on her second novel, Wild Gardenias. which will be available by the end of 1999. You wont want to miss it!

Email the author: pressgdp@gowebway.com

More information: www.gardeniapress.com