Lord Gabriel Morrowby's wounds have never healed. After an accident in a mineshaft, his life is full of pain. The pain in his heart is even deeper, for he knows the darkest of betrayals. Isolated in his manor, he spends all his hours trying to improve the lives of local people. Despite his wish to do good, his heart is forever closed. One day, at a friend's insistence, a formidable and capable lady arrives at his manor to assist him. Surely, she will mean nothing to him. But day by day, she tempts him to take a chance on hope and love. Years of pain harden his heart. Can it ever soften to love?

Known as a young idealist, no one expects Roderick Morrowby, heir to the Duke of Wrathborne to become a beast. Yet, when his father dies, that is exactly what happens. Loathed by his younger brother, abandoned by his friends, and casting off all his dreams to reform his family mines, Roderick is alone. Secretly blackmailed by his father from the grave, he is determined to find the key to change his fate. In search of that key, Roderick sails to Devon. Swept overboard in a fierce storm and half dead, he is taken in by a woman who saves his life and may have the power to save his heart. If only she can see the man he truly he is. Hazel Smith walks the cliffs every night, praying that her abusive husband will never return from his watery grave. One night, a vicious storm tears at her cottage and she is shocked when someone pounds on the door. Despite her fears, she lets in the formidable man who is on death’s door. The man swept in by the storm brings the possibility of change into her life and perhaps the possibility of much more as well. But Roderick and Hazel face a dangerous road to love. It is a road of secrets and society’s disapproval. With so much between them, how can something as fragile as love stand a chance?