Orphaned at an early age, Esma Drake had long relied on the kindness of others. Thus, when she was asked to act as a nurse and companion to fragile young Alisette Nikolai, Esma readily accepted the offer. Her arrival at Sea Cliff House, however, filled her with sudden dread as she saw the mansion's perch high atop the sea cliffs. Would she never escape the frightening memories and the lonely sound of the pounding, roiling surf? However, Esma soon found comfort in little Alisette's eager welcome and happily settled into the manor's daily routine. But that early contentment was quickly shattered by the unexpected return of Alisette's father, believed to have been lost at sea. Esma felt herself drawn to the darkly handsome captain, whose loss of memory had left him without a past or a future; yet she struggled to resist her growing attraction to this strange and secretive man for she feared what it would mean for her own uncertain future.