After her family dies at the hands of monsters, Carly doesn't have time to think about a man. Hell, she practically acts like one so why does she need one to get in her way? She rides better than most, can fire a gun quicker and proves again and again she can manage fine on her own. That is, until Preston Evans steals her heart. Never mind what he does to her willing little body. Preston's lust for a woman never stands in his way. He always has his way with women so his ridiculous need for one can easily be satisfied with the body of another. Until the day he thinks he's lost the only woman he's ever truly cared about. After he watches outlaws damn near rape his woman of a sensible existence, he vows to claim her as his own. But just because he promises forever, doesn't necessarily mean he can follow through and if he does, there will be a lot to overcome—and forgive.

Preston Evans is a man facing hard time with forgiveness. The trouble is, he craves Carly in ways a man shouldn't have to want a woman and he needs her in a manner some deem unlawful. Preston’s pride is killing him, but the problem is, he isn't going to do anything about it. He can't. He just cannot get past the fact that the woman he vowed to love and protect destroyed everything in a blink of an eye with distorted truths he doesn't understand. Soon, another man forces his hand and because Carly is interested in Robert Barkley, Preston may have some difficult decisions to make. Carly has moved on with her life. Preston told her to get out and never come back so she did. But when the town whore pays her a visit, things change. Carly entertains the idea of Preston again, but when the weather takes a turn for the worse, it isn't Preston who saves her. It's a young man with a focused agenda. Robert Barkley is a young cowboy weathering the worst of winters in order to save a woman. When he takes Carly to the town saloon, the pain she revisits brings her back to the reality she now faces. She cannot change the past, but her future isn't going to be determined by a man she loved and lost or the one waiting nearby to save her.

Preston left Carly when she needed him most. For over a year, she's been alone. With a farm to manage and no money for expenses, she turns to a woman's profession and conducts business from her prairie home. There's a reason for it. Her doors are open to the strange desires of familiar men. When Carly discovers Preston is coming home, she hears the news from one of her customers. He tells her Preston is bringing a woman to Stockton, but a woman isn't the only thing Preston brings home. Will Preston and Carly finally find their way back to one another or will the past continue to keep them apart? Find out in this explosive third book of the Branded trilogy.