Heart

College teaching assistant Ruth Tyack is excitedly planning for a new job in Rome when she falls in love with Tom, a poet and guest-lecturer at the college. Despite their intense feelings for each other, Ruth and Tom must part after one final glorious weekend before her departure. Tom is married and has too much respect for his wife and a deep bond with his special needs' son. Once overseas, Ruth enters into a brief but tragic marriage with the scion of an aristocratic family. After Bruno’s passing, she turns to his handsome cousin Peter, who has long been attracted to Ruth, for solace. Though initially thrilled, Ruth finds herself married to a traditionalist, one who expects a docile partner willing to overlook his affairs like other wealthy Italian wives. While chafing under the constraints, she’s nonetheless mindful of her vows to Peter and her responsibility to their son. As their unhappiness grows, she keeps coming back to her feelings for Tom and her love that has never been extinguished. Having kept in touch with him over the years, she’s been deeply affected by his personal tragedy and the anguish he faced as his wife suffered a series of breakdowns and was committed to an institution. Should she remain in an increasingly untenable marriage or follow her heart? The rerelease of this bestselling contemporary romance has been updated to include three new chapters which reveal the path she takes.