The main female character, Carmen, is sometimes hard to like. Whiney, self centered, woe-is-me kind of female. Living with her sister & her family for over a year, rather than a couple months, working in a small ancient bookstore in Edinburgh, Scotland, her long time boyfriend disappoints her and leaves for an expedition in Brazil. Things are rough for Carmen, mostly her own doing, and she pushes on to help save the bookshop and return to a life she wants.