Overview

Dr. Elizabeth Hartley boards the Sappho's Dream expecting a peaceful writing retreat to finish her Jane Austen biography. Instead, she finds Riley Summers—a free-spirited street artist with paint-stained fingers and zero respect for Elizabeth's carefully planned schedule—claiming the same cabin.

Forced to share impossibly small quarters, the uptight literature professor and the spontaneous muralist clash over everything from morning routines to the meaning of art. But when Riley quotes Austen with surprising depth and Elizabeth discovers the social conscience behind Riley's vibrant community murals, their initial prejudices begin to crack.

From disastrous shore excursions in Rome to intimate painting lessons under Mediterranean stars, Elizabeth finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about passion, propriety, and what it means to truly live. When her condescending ex-fiancé unexpectedly boards the ship, Elizabeth must choose between the safe, respectable life she's always known and the colorful, authentic future Riley offers.