A penniless widow trying to survive. A dissolute nobleman scarred in service to his country. When Freya Carr returns to England after her husband's death, she is forced to find a way to support herself. She decides to answer an advertisement for a gentleman seeking a wife. A visit to the marriage broker sends her to a remote estate in Cornwall. Treloar House is crumbling into ruin, its master disfigured and bitter. But there is something about Lord Treloar that touches Freya's heart, while his hard hand on her bottom kindles forbidden appetites. Will Lord Treloar offer her the sanctuary she craves? And can Freya ever learn to love a beast?