Recently widowed Halley Holbrook has spent decades building a career as a bestselling novelist.

Now in her fifties, when she was a child, Halley was physically and mentally abused – something she only revealed to her beloved husband and that she has since managed to bury, overcoming terrible memories.

Halley is very close to her identical twin daughters – one of whom, Valerie, has recently gotten married. For the first time they will spend Christmas and New Year apart as Valerie’s husband has booked a yacht in St Barts for two weeks, not knowing that Halley suffers from seasickness and will not be able to go.

Halley decides to go to Paris while they are away and rents a beautiful house for the holiday. On the flight she meets a successful businessman, Bart Warner. They agree to meet for dinner and spend time together during her stay.

On Halley’s second day in Paris she has her extremely valuable, vintage Birkin handbag stolen. The theft leaves her feeling shaken and vulnerable, and brings back the awful memories of her abusive childhood. With Bart’s help, she manages to overcome her feelings of helplessness and despair and is determined to do everything she can to help the police recover the bag – the thief is part of an international syndicate and a wanted man.

As Halley proves to herself that she can confront the ghosts of her past and no longer be controlled by threats and abuse, her most important lesson will be that she is deserving of love.