Honed by danger and haunted by the past, Lord Michael Kenyon finds it easy to risk his life for his country's sake. But in the shadow of war, he faces a far more dangerous threat—the loss of his heart to the beautiful battlefield nurse who saves his life yet can never be his.

Called a saint for her virtue and selfless courage, only Catherine Melbourne knows the tragic flaw at the core of her life. In Michael Kenyon she sees the strength and kindness she craves, yet for honor's sake, she must conceal her love and send him away. Even when freed from her bitter marriage, she conceals the truth because of the bleak knowledge that she can never again be any man's wife.

Then fate offers Catherine a fortune, a title, a heritage for her daughter— if Michael will impersonate her husband on a visit to a wild Cornish island. Reluctantly, he agrees to the masquerade. But what begins as a simple journey leads them into a shattering vortex of danger and betrayal—and a fiercely passionate love that can no longer be denied.