Nightingale Books, nestled on the high street in Peasebrook, a picture-postcard Cotswold town, is a dream come true for book lovers. Everyone who enters falls in love with something. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the shop open and the developers are circling. The temptation to sell up is proving enormous - but what about the promise she made to her father? Not to mention her customers, for whom the shop is a comfort, a meeting place, a lifeline. Then Emilia meets Dexter, local jack-the-lad, who is looking to improve his English so he can better himself. He buys all Emilia's recommendations, and together they re-discover all her favourite authors. But Dexter has a secret, and is not all he seems ...