Novelist Kate Ivory is used to receiving letters, each week, from her readers. But when she receives a package containing a gold knot-ring, with no explanatory note, she is more than a little bemused.

A phone call from her publicist, however, soon banishes any worries to the back of Kate's mind, as she prepares to embark on a bookshop tour to promote her new novel. Joining Kate on the tour is Devlin Hayle, author of a series of romantic bodice-rippers and bearer of the title 'The Man Who Understands A Woman's Heart'. But her companion seems to have a talent for producing mayhem wherever he goes. It soon becomes clear that Devlin has a hidden agenda for the tour, and Kate herself seems to be developing a habit of attracting the wrong sort of people...