Orphaned by the tragic accident that took her parents' lives, Lady Christina St. John knows she has little choice but to sell herself into a loveless marriage. That is, until she discovers she is heiress to a long-buried treasure . . . and embarks on a journey that will take her deep into the ancestral lands of her mother's people—and force her to play a role in a daring masquerade.

To peril and passion in the Scottish Highlands . . .

But Captain James MacIver sees through Christina's necessary deception. An enigmatic American with his own mysterious claim to her family's land, James has returned to Scotland to put the bitter betrayals of the past behind him. What he finds is a willful, titian-haired beauty who challenges his birthright, fires his blood, and brands his soul with passion.

To love forged in the heat of desire—and deception.

Against a dangerous world of intrigue, amid the savage beauty of a wild, fierce land, two unlikely lovers clash. Yet even as fiery hunger flames into searing love, Christina knows she can never reveal her true heart to the arrogant, irresistible man who has sworn to possess her—body and soul.