It can't be a coincidence that the band is playing "Stranger in Paradise," not when that's exactly how Rebecca Barton would describe herself.

No matter how beautiful the Hawaiian honeymoon resort is, it's no place for a widow with two children and a brown dachshund waiting for her back home in Texas. Why on earth did she think that this trip would be a good way to decide whether she's ready to open a hotel of her own? It's a mistake, a huge mistake--just like offering first aid to the handsome stranger at the next table was a mistake.

Flying all the way from Detroit to Hawaii for what was supposed to be his wedding, he discovered that his fiancé jilted him. And if that wasn't bad enough, he managed to catch his sleeve on fire and then snarl at the beautiful woman who tried to help him. Oddly enough, it's the snarling that bothers him the most, especially when he discovers just how charming Rebecca is. In an uncharacteristically impulsive act, Doug suggests they spend the next week touring the island together.

It's a magical week, one that both Rebecca and Doug know will never be repeated, for this is their version of a shipboard romance. They will never see each other again. But fate has other ideas, and a year later Doug arrives at Bluebonnet Spring, Rebecca's newly opened country inn, for a month's stay. It should be a dream come true. Instead, Doug is Rebecca's worst nightmare. There's no hope for a happy ending for them...or is there?