Her father raised Regina Pearson as an only child after her mother’s death in Hawaii, but she has always wondered why she didn’t know anything about her family history.  So when her father died, she began to go through the things that he left behind and stumbled upon a letter that her mother had received from someone named Maude Witherspoon.  Regina decided to contact her to see what she knew about her family.   After a few weeks, Regina received a response and started planning a new life for herself in North Carolina, where she would become the manager of a new hotel; and meet her Aunt Maude, her mother’s sister, for the first time in her life. 

Regina had spent time with people on the island who were surrounded by loving family and she expected to find the same type of relationship with the new people that would enter her life in North Carolina.  But what she met was a loving but outspoken aunt who was a blues singer; cousin Harold, the jazz musician, who wasn’t really accepted by other family members; and a grandfather who refused to see her.  Not exactly the welcome that she was looking for. But she hoped to build a lasting relationship with her family, and that was something that she was willing to work at until they were a part of her life.   

Aunt Maude had warned Regina that she would probably never get all of the Witherspoons and the Pearsons together; but she provided her with a list of all the known relatives that were around.  There were three more relatives that Regina was able to meet: Cephus, Harold’s brother; Odette, the cousin who was always begging for money; and Juliet, the cousin who looked just like Regina’s twin. 

Regina not only had her hands filled with her dysfunctional family members; but her new job had her working with a man that rubbed her the wrong way, Colonel Justin Duval.  Justin was assigned the task of furnishing the Craven, the hotel where Regina worked.  The two of them bumped heads on day one and neither was willing to give up power.  Of course there was something else going on between them, and it was the things unspoken that were really driving them crazy.  It was suggested by their boss that they settle things between the sheets so that they could move forward with their jobs; but it proved to be a while before they would realize that his comments were true. 

Regina’s hands were full between building relationships with people who didn’t want one with her, trying to open the hotel on time, and trying to avoid the relationship destined to happen with Justin.  With each growing day, she began to tear down the wall with her family members especially her grandfather, Abner Witherspoon.  He became her adviser for the hotel since he had spent his entire life running a hotel.  But the one thing that kept her mind racing was the fact that she and Juliet looked so much alike.  After breaking the defenses that Juliet had built, she convinced Juliet to work with her to find their missing uncle, her mother’s brother, because Regina felt he was the key to why they looked so much alike. 

Justin knew that Regina had a deep longing to have a family, and was willing to wait for her to find the missing pieces of her life.  As they began to spend time together, he knew that they would eventually be together if Regina would just open her heart the same way she was opening her mind to learning about her roots.  It was all just a matter of time.