Branwyn O’Tyre’s estranged brother summons her for a healing ritual. Fearing he actually plans to arrest her for witchcraft, she drinks a protection potion before he arrives. Eirik, a Viking sea captain pretending slumber in the tavern corner, witnesses Branwyn’s magic and offers her safe passage from Exeter if she will attempt to reverse a curse that plagues him. Unfortunately, every woman who touches him falls wildly but falsely in love with him. There’s only one hitch. If she fails, Branwyn’s heart will become a victim to the same madness...forever!

A premature winter and fear of a second mer attack threaten the Vikings' return to their mystical home of New Dorset. While Sven oversees the grueling task of rowing across the icy Atlantic, he is haunted by creatures of the mists. Whispering ghosts and a breathtakingly beautiful mermaid named Willow follow their longship. She claims she did not come to pick another fight with his sailors, however. What she wants this time is—him!

Under constant attack, Branwyn and Eirik sail to his homeland with plans to marry in a fortnight. A giantess of the feared Jotun tribe meets them at the city gates, claiming she is also his fiancé according to a treaty arranged in his absence. By law, the two women must compete for Eirik’s hand in marriage through the challenging and sometimes deadly Hand Fasting Games. If Branwyn loses, the man she loves will be forced to marry her opponent. If she wins, their marriage will likely spark another war with the Jotuns.