How complicated can a love affair get? Lizanne Keller, on vacation in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, finds and falls in love with a chocolate Labrador. Since nobody claims him, she decides to take him home to Iowa. Lou Bivens falls in love with a handsome author she meets on the train. Since he has nowhere special to go, she decides to take him home to Mountain View Apartments in Portland. Andy Keller, manager of Mountain View, discovers that both her daughter's new dog and her assistant's new boyfriend are studs who love and leave their mark. And one of them is marked for murder.