Harriet Blair is making a fresh start. Just reunited with her husband George after an all-too-eventful separation, and back writing her romantic bestsellers, she wants nothing more than to settle down to a serene middle age as a respectable suburban wife and mother. But for Harriet things can never be that simple . . .From the moment George suggests the idea of a family holiday in rural France Harriet's resolve begins to feel the strain; by the time they drive up before the Villa Almont it's crumbling alarmingly. For their new home for three weeks boasts a number of features not mentioned in the brochure. There's an eccentric sitting tenant who seems to get his nose into everything, regular cannon fusillades from a farmer with a bird-scaring obsession and, next door in a mysterious chateau, the outrageous aristocrat Comte Guy de Pellegale, and his equally outrageous guests. It's all enough to try the patience of a saint . . . and Harriet was never that!Still, even when her hottest old flame, gorgeous Greek Ghikas, turns up by chance in the nearby village, Harriet determines to cling to the path of duty. Well, there's no harm in hoping . . .