This movie is about a lonely mother of two, Adrienne, (Diane Lane) and a overworked, unfeeling doctor, Paul Flanner (Richard Gere). Adrienne, after being left by her husband goes to Rodathe to tend to an inn owned by her friend as a favor. Paul goes to Rodanthe to talk to a husband of a former patient who's surgery went wrong. They meet when Paul is the only guest at the inn Adrienne is looking after. Both Adrienne and Paul are sad and lonely people looking for companionship later in life. What they find in each other is something special and unique and it results in the sort of love that nothing can conquer.