Margaret Pearl Beaton is tired of her wealthy but controlling aunt and uncle running her life. After the handsome Joshua Wynn brings Margaret her deceased mother's rare pearls, Margaret decides to escape before her arranged marriage and seek true love and happiness for herself. She shows up unannounced at the docks of London insisting Joshua take her to Lisbon. On board, she learns that he has also experienced grief and heartache which she can help heal if he will let her in.
Joshua Wynn had no idea that delivering a strand of pearls to the lovely Miss Beaton would turn his life upside down. Annoyed yet intrigued, his loyalty is tested between keeping promises to her father and confiding in Margaret. Riddled by guilt and regret from his wartime decisions, he is unsure if he can trust himself to love again. He can only give his heart to a woman who will also accept his past.
While storms and saboteurs on board threaten their lives, will secrets and insecurity destroy their hope for happiness? Or will they search for a love that's more precious than pearls?