Isobel Harrington, fresh from her English finishing school in the summer of 1922, is sent to visit cousins in Italy for just one reason: to catch the eye of their wealthy and eligible house guest. But the man who awakens Isobel's passion is not the respectable British heir to a nobleman — it is local Italian Stefano, an enigma who doesn't fit any of the "boxes" she's been taught to expect. In Stefano's arms she experiences a sexual awakening. He dares her to follow her dreams, but is she brave enough to defy convention, and her parents' expectations, to pursue her own happiness?