As her father's only child, Elsinora must take a husband to help her run the manor of Lyndower. Although capable of managing the place herself, no one trusts a woman to lead. She can be a wife and mother, nothing more. But she's determined to choose the man for herself and she has just the one in mind—handsome, clever, chivalrous and kind-hearted.

She hasn't met him yet, but he's out there. Somewhere.

However, when her father returns home drunk one evening after a game of tavern dice, Elsinora soon discovers that sobering him up is not her only problem this time. The scarred Norman beast with the crude manners and insulting tongue—the one who brought her father home slung over the rump of his horse, has won not only the manor of Lyndower as his prize after a night of gambling. He's also won Elsinora.