When Dex Grippon's mother dies, he takes it as a sign--it's time to give up acting and return to his hometown. If he can find a way to save his mother's bookstore, he can preserve the one link he still has to his parents. But keeping an independent bookstore afloat turns out to be more difficult than he anticipated, and Dex isn't the only one who wonders what else his mom might have been selling.

Former cop Les Gable might be off the job, but he has to know what was going on at the bookstore, and he'll do anything to satisfy his curiosity--including befriend the new owner with an offer to help sort out his new business. Something about the bookstore doesn't smell right, and Les is going to find out what.

The problem is that his curiosity about Dex soon far outstrips his interest in what happened at the store. But as curiosity matures into love, the store's past threatens their future. Can Les and Dex untangle the mystery of the bookshop and escape with their relationship--and their lives--intact, or will the whole thing go up in smoke?