When her grandmother decides she is leaving Canada to return to the Italian mountain village of her birth, Libby Zufferlia agrees to travel ahead and oversee the renovations on the family home. Libby soon discovers that the villagers' memories of her grandmother, the infamous Mattia Loszach, rekindle long-repressed feelings of lost love and betrayal. Libby's very presence ignites an age-old feud between two reigning families of the region: the Loszachs and the Iacomes. Marcello Iacome heads the rival family. Although Marc and Libby instantly develop an attraction for one another, their relationship is inhibited by the family feud. They scoff at the strong sentiments of resentment between their relations which force them to meet in secret. But Marc's true feelings, feelings bred deep in his bones, simmer beneath the surface, and Libby never anticipates the depth of emotions that awaken in that sleepy village, or in her.