Connie Farrell, a New York restaurant critic, is sitting in a first class seat on her way to Venice for the second honeymoon of a lifetime. There's only one problem - Tom, her high school sweetheart and husband of ten years, is not sitting next to her. It seems downright rude. And not the least bit romantic. Enter Marco, an impossibly handsome gondolier, who guides her through the unimaginable delights of the city that has haunted her dreams - the water, the crumbling palaces, the dark and mysterious alleyways - and of course the mouth-watering delicacies, she is fed at every turn - makes it all seem too good to be true. Indeed, back home in New York her dreams become a nightmare. Connie must discover the truth, a dish at once harder to swallow and yet ultimately more delicious than any she could find in a four-star restaurant.