October in Bennett's Cove was a dream. The summer rush was over, the cold winter hadn't set in and the hills were ablaze with all the colours of fall. Lizzie O'Connor was just fine living in Bennett's Cove. Sure, she wasn't the published poet like she once thought she'd be and yeah, her mental baggage was a little heavy but she had her sisters and her cafe, Sweet Nothings, a combination coffee shop and bookstore. Everything was just fine, until she found out that her favourite author, Gilbert Maclelland, would be attending the new Blank Pages Writer's Retreat in her small seaside town. Trying to get away from the chaos of his divorce, Gilbert Maclelland just wanted a peaceful place to get over his writer's block and hammer out his latest book before his publishers dropped him. Coerced into attending the retreat, Bennett's Cove was the last place Gilbert expected to find solace, let alone love but when his path crosses with the small town coffee shop owner, and keeps crossing, he can't help the pull he feels between them. After meeting her idol and realising he wasn't the ageing professor she had imagined, and with some coaxing from her sisters, Lizzie decides to go for it. But after a first kiss neither of them is soon to forget, Gilbert puts a stop to any romantic thoughts Lizzie might have had. He's a mess, and the last thing he needs is romance. He and Lizzie can only ever be 'just friends'. Yet as their lives continue to crash into one another like waves against the shore, Gilbert's resolve begins to erode. And all he can do is hope that Lizzie feels the same way.