Kiernan "Nan" Galvin, a librarian from Madison, Wisconsin has recently lost her father and takes a leap from her ordinary life to visit Ireland. Losing her mother at an early age, Nan discovers a mysterious packet of letters received by her mother from Ireland. Curiosity spurs her on to rent a cottage in the seaside town of Ballykirk from Riley Quinn to begin her trek through her mother's past of secrets. The Quinn brothers run the Speckled Hound, an Irish pub, although one brother is somewhat of an artist and Riley composes, sings and records music.

Riley is a romantic drop dead gorgeous songwriter who claims Nan's attention for her 10 day stay. The beginning of innocent kisses soon escalates to serious sex as Riley teaches Nan the beauty and history of Ireland among "other" things. In the adventure of following her mother's footsteps to solve the mystery of her tie with Ireland, Nan is in store for more than just a little history lesson and a little vacation love affair.

This is a really beautiful and nostalgic story of destined love between two terrific characters set in the Celtic setting of the romantic island of Ireland. The descriptions throughout the story of the seaside island easily bring the beauty there to be seen in your mind. Nan is a conservative young woman afraid to step out of the mold and take a chance at happiness until she meets that one special person. Riley is a lady's man who has no intention of settling down until his life is turned topsy- turvy by the beautiful American woman tied to an Irish history. This is a story to curl up with for that warm and fuzzy feeling that will stay with you for some time to come.