When Marshall VanDahmm’s wife, Violet, married four times previously, informs him that she’s divorcing him, he promptly falls apart. She refuses to offer a reason for the divorce, and Marshall is utterly confused. Out of anger and desperation, he decides to seek out one of Violet’s exes, Costa Pavlos, with whom he’s convinced she’s been having an affair. Despite a rocky introduction, Marshall and Costa form a tentative friendship, and together they seek out Violet’s other exes. It seems Marshall isn’t the only one Violet left on ambiguous terms. Now Marshall and Costa, with Owen, Brian and Tim have formed a renegade “support group” to work through the emotional, mental, and financial damage she’s left in her wake. Enter Jake: Violet’s high school sweetheart and the one who got away. The men are befuddled by Violet’s pining over Jake—what does he have that they don’t? And then, inexplicably altruistically, can they track him down in time to save him from Violet? The group sets out on a road trip to find Jake before Violet can, and on the way forge new friendships, new loyalties, and find new sides of themselves.

A girl wakes up on a beach with no memory. She ends up finding out she is a Lightning Element and learns her powers again. Along the way, she meets other elements of earth, air, water, and fire. They are the four core, but there are more. Her father is a Metal and Mineral Element, and these weird creatures, called chimeras, keep appearing with the power of time and space. Violet has the aid of a Kitsune, a magical fox, and is jumped around the timeline. There is this bad guy, Martin Krazor, who has a machine that he uses to devour the life and essence of elements and create his own artificial elements. He has a plan to become very powerful and try to devour the legendary element spoken of in old tales and legends. He and his son, Oliver, are also Lightning Elements. In the end, Martin and Violet will have to battle for supremacy. A mysterious voice is constantly advising Violet on her journey. She finds out what that entity really is at the end.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.