A holiday in Rome to visit an old friend and to partake in the revelries of Carnival was all Oliver St. John had planned until he collided with a beautiful woman selling baskets. After meeting the lady, Oliver finds he can't get her out of his mind, but as he searches for the mystery woman, he wonders how he can locate her in a city filled with thousands?Selling her baskets and moving away from the family that despises her was Madelena Russo's dream until the handsome man at the docks runs into her-literally. If anyone could make her forget her plans, he could. Unfortunately, her conniving mother has other ideas, and they involve marriage to a stranger. Madelena knows she must ruin the union before her vows and seeks out the one man who could make her forget who she was with just a smile...Oliver.Madelena soon discovers the truth behind her mother's plot and flees Rome, entangling Oliver in her plight for escape. Aboard a ship bound for the Caribbean, she finds herself falling for her ginger-haired savior causing her to wonder if perhaps the love she so desperately craves could become a reality-all because of A Chance Encounter.