Ellie Donahue fell in love with Parker Donahue when she was very young, but while he was a good friend, he was also totally (sometimes embarrassingly) oblivious to her charms. Long ago, she had accepted that Parker would always be just a young girl's fantasy, best left out of her dreams and safely in her past. But now her home town of Red Rose is dying, bleeding citizens, especially men, and like it or not, Ellie has been asked to lure Parker, a highly successful businessman, back to town to work a marketing miracle on the town.

Parker has never regretted leaving Red Rose. He has a good life and a great business in the city, and Red Rose only represents painful regrets to him. But Ellie is something else. She's a whirlwind, an enticing sprite who seems to take on more work than she should while working magic on her home town and on him. Soon, Parker is wondering if he's been wrong... about so many things, including Red Rose, Ellie and his aim to retain his bachelor status.