William Thacker, a travel bookstore owner working and living in Notting Hill, is barely making ends meet. He needs to rent out part of his house, his lodger whom he considers the "stupidest git" in the world. His personal life is equally in shambles as although he has a small group of dear friends, who are on the most part as equally unsuccessful professionally as him, he is divorced - she left him - with no prospect of love on the horizon. His life changes when into his bookstore walks American Anna Scott, arguably the most famous and attractive movie actress in the world. Against the odds, Anna and William become friends with the possibility of romance between the two on the horizon. But the odds of moving their relationship to that final stage are still stacked against them as they live in two different worlds, Anna's under constant public scrutiny of the gossip hungry press, who, along with the public at large, know that Anna is already in a personal relationship with equally famous movie actor, Jeff King.—Huggo