Settings ranging from a desolate island in winter to a broken-down city bus at rush hour are the locale for love's unlikely -- and often inconvenient -- landings in these ten diverse and uncommon stones. An eccentric endodontist repairs a patient's freshly broken heart while performing a root canal. A Haitian woman charms snakes into keeping her company in an urban cave as she safeguards her grandchildren's sleep. A shy illustrator subsists through a long Vermont winter on occasional glimpses of a man in a blue pick-up truck. Whether Dodd's characters are on the lookout or on the lam, love is what maps their migrations. An enduring species, they scavenge wherever scraps of hope may be found. The sound of their yearnings, muted and distinct, will linger in the reader's heart.