A.D. 1756When Rome's loveliest rose and Venice's fiercest lion team up to win back the love of their respective spouses-to-be, the Serene Republic may expect a hilarious romp - and perhaps the most torrid love story to have ever bedazzled its gilded canals...Spoiled Princess Isabella Pamphili of Rome is a radiant bride-to-be. The youngest of four daughters, having escaped the drudgery of a life in a nunnery, she threw herself wholeheartedly into keeping her future husband diverted with lively correspondence, until such time that they would be united in matrimony. Recently, however, her fiance stopped writing. Alarmed and perplexed, Isabella leaves to Venice with the intention of rekindling her fiancé's passion and to set a wedding date. But en route to the Serenissima, Isabella finds herself in the midst of a full-blown battle, with no one to defend her, except for a very rude navy commander... The unappreciated second son of an aristocratic Venetian family, Brando Loredan has proven his valor on the maritime battlefield time and again. His skill and determination have gained him prestige, power, the admiration of all of Venice, and he is to marry the city's most famous beauty. Still now, stranded with a handful of soldiers on the Isle of Lina, Venice's last frontier against the marauding pirates, Brando is prepared to die a hero's death rather than return home a failure... but he may just have to postpone his untimely arrival at Elysium in order to rescue a very troublesome Roman princess...Love intrigues make the strangest bedfellows...