Their love breaks all bounds. Richard is lord of Wykeford—and Eleanor’s lord. She is a former bondswoman, now free. When they meet, their lives change forever as a love that can’t be denied burns between them. She is strong and fierce. He is a gentle warrior. Together, they fight for their future against all odds.But there is one in the lord’s household who’s not pleased and who will stop at nothing to break Richard and Eleanor apart, even at the cost of murder.

She is Beauty, but is he the Beast? Elfrida, spirited, caring, and beautiful, is also alone. She is the "witch of the woods," and no man dares to ask for her hand in marriage until a beast comes stalking brides and steals away her sister. Desperate, the lovely Elfrida offers herself as a sacrifice, as bridal bait, and she is seized by a man with fearful scars. Is he the beast? In the depths of a frozen midwinter, in the heart of the woodland, Sir Magnus, battle-hardened knight of the Crusades, searches ceaselessly for three missing brides, pitting his wits and weapons against a nameless stalker of the snowy forest. Disfigured and hideously scarred, Magnus has finished with love, he thinks, until he rescues a fourth "bride," the beautiful, red-haired Elfrida, whose innocent touch ignites in him a fierce passion that satisfies his deepest yearnings and darkest desires.