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The widow: an extraordinarily wealthy, American-born woman has learned to overcome a bucket load of past mistakes, except for the one problem that all her wealth can never hope to cure.

The widower: a dirt-poor, Irish-born widowerowner and trainer of dressage horses also owns his ancestral castle and lands, but he's a breath away from losing everything due to in part to his own bungling.

Part One: aboard a cruise ship bound for the Caribbean, DeeDee O'Donnel and Bryan Kennedy meet during a playful accident. Too soon they find themselves set up by Bryan's rascally son and daughter-in-law with a bit of matchmaking in mind. Though the couple use all their stubborn will not to get involved in a shipboard romance, their attraction to each other is impossible to ignore. Despite their feelings the cruise must end soon, and Bryan isn't taking their inevitable departure as well as she expected.

Part Two: DeeDee learns that Bryan is all but dead-broke and is in danger of losing all he owns in Ireland. Bryan and his alcoholic brother have badly mismanaged their estate, so their ruin is no one's fault but their own. Nevertheless, she hatches an elaborate plan. Passion, stunning generosity, and legendary Irish pride explode when despite the fact the Bryan forbids DeeDee to help himshe vows to rescue him from certain bankruptcy. Ultimately she proposes the strangest wager ever made between two people afraid to let go of their stubborn Irish pride and their need to control.