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From bestselling author Susan Krinard comes a passionate, richly textured story of a powerful Fane whose one hope for love turns out to be the very woman he has vowed to destroy... After a night of heated passion six years ago, Eden Bradwell made the shattering discovery that the man she was about to marry was no mortal. He was a monster, a woodlands guardian spirit named Lord Hern who needed an heir to end the exile that had been imposed upon him. Devastated by his deception, Eden fled Hartsmere and wed another. In a deep sleep for the last five years, Hern, the Forest Lord, has been informed that Eden—the woman he'd courted all those years ago and who had shunned his true form—has returned to Hartsmere, along with the boy he'd been told was dead. Vowing to steal back his son—and wreak vengeance upon the woman who betrayed him—Hern assumes the identity of a servant named Hartley Shaw. But with each moment he spends with the elegant woman and his beautiful son, his heart begins to cast off the bands of iron that has bound it—and he becomes devoted to finding something that will redeem the woman he has come to love.
Author

Trained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance—and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists. Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.