Eager to escape a bleak future in famine-ridden Ireland, Kathleen Maguire accompanies her cousin, Meara, to America, where her fiance awaits. But on the voyage, Meara falls in love with another, leaving Kathleen to tell Rian Quaid that his bride-to-be has jilted him. Desperate and nearly destitute, Kathleen undertakes a bold deception by letting Rian believe that she is Meara. Now, as she loses her heart to handsome, honorable Rian, Kathleen realizes that the truth may steal her happiness away. Rian's bitter experience with his father's second marriage has made him none-too-eager to wed-especially not to a woman betrothed to him in childhood. And yet, when he meets his lovely "intended" at the port of Baltimore, he is startled by his own desire. With each passing day, his passion for her grows, until all he can see is the perfect bliss he has found in her arms. But when his beloved new wife's secret is exposed-will it shatter their blossoming love?