A gothic romance novelist desperate for inspiration travels to Paris and reads a diary relating a tale of romance from the 18th century…

When Ellen Turner, a successful romance novelist suffering from writer's block, takes a much needed European vacation, she not only discovers her own sensuality but the scandalous historical tale of how a prim Victorian noblewoman defied social mores by delving deeply into the recesses of her own suppressed libido. Soon the words are flying from her fingertips and another bestseller is born.