Emma Burcelli has given up on romance. Not just because she's suffered over a decade of dating disasters. Not because her parents' marriage ended on New Year's Eve. No, Emma concludes that love is officially dead when her grandfather Poppi passes away, leaving the last true romantic's other half, Nona Burcelli, devastated.

Emma helps by working in the family's bookstore, which Nona insists must be completely decked out in sweetheart decor as Poppi would have done for Valentine's Day. Although Emma feels like a V-Day Scrooge, she quickly learns to enjoy the task with the aid of a handsome volunteer and friend of Poppi's, Lane Forester. As Emma spends time with Lane, sharing stories about Poppi, ice skating in the street, and hanging hearts to the tune of Dean Martin, she reconsiders the possibility that romance is alive.
But just as Emma's heart begins to lift she learns her sister has already staked a claim on Lane's affections. Emma's mother and sister insist Lane only sees her as a future sister-in-law, but Emma can't help wondering if it could be something more.