Eliana, unhappy in her marriage to the philandering Maurizio and caring for a sick child, falls in love with Ross Story, an American who has come to Italy to work at a local art museum, but it seems as though their romance is doomed due to the laws that would award custody of her young son to her husband if she were to leave.

"The year is 1975. Elle Sheen--a single mother who is supporting herself and her six-year-old, African-American son, Dylan, as a waitress at the Noel Street Diner--isn't sure what to make of William Smith when his appearance creates a stir in the small town of Mistletoe, Utah. As their lives unexpectedly entwine, Elle learns that William, a recently returned Vietnam POW, is not only fighting demons from his past, but may also have the answer to her...

"When bestselling romance author Jacob Churcher returns to Salt Lake City to settle his estranged mother's estate, a young woman arrives looking for her birth mother who lived with Jacob's family during her pregnancy. They discover a diary written by Noel and begin a quest to find her, reconcile their pasts and rewrite their futures"--