Ave Maria Mulligan is a 35 year old pharmacist, who recently lost her mother. She had previously lost her step father and she had no siblings. She loves to read and spends most of her time running her pharmacy, running the yearly drama show, being on the Emergency Squad, and keeping up with her household. Life starts to change for her when she discovers letters in her mother's closet from her relatives and Ave Maria realizes her father is still alive. Ave Maria also discovers that someone she has known since childhood, Jack MacChesney, loves her and wants to marry her. Her live is overturned with these new events and she spends a summer in Italy with her new family and her new husband.

Ave Maria was a woman afraid to take chances. She was always prepared for everything, but she learned that sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind to find love.

This books is fun, with lots of colorful characters, Fleeta Mullins, chain smoking pharmacy assistant; Iva Lou Wade, librarian; Pearl Grimes, a mountain girl that ends up owning the pharmacy; and Theodore, her lifetime friend.