“Didn't know you were gonna sell me a love story.”

“Is that what I did?”

Restless and full of doubt amid a divorce from his high school sweetheart, single father Alex Ramos goes for an early morning walk and stumbles upon a garage sale held by Elijah Caplinger, who's been tasked with clearing out his late grandfather's home. Later, when Alex finds that a couple of the classic novels he bought have a series of handwritten notes in the margins, he goes back to Elijah for help piecing together the rest of the story. Together they become intrigued by a relationship that began in the margins of books and the shadows of 1940s Los Angeles, and they learn more than they could have expected about the lasting effects of well-intentioned secrets.

While caught up in the romance of the story they're reading, Alex and Elijah contend with perceived sins of the past, multi-generational hurt and healing, and the hope and fear inherent in loving out loud. And while they each grieve the time they've lost, they remember they still have the promise of a happily ever after that wasn't all that true in a love story written long ago.