Desmond Crane is a confirmed bachelor, always running from love...

Accompanying his widowed sister back to her home in Lincolnshire, he finds himself in a most unusual situation. A woman—dark haired and mysterious—has quite literally struck him dumb. From the first sight of her, he knows his life has been irrevocably altered. Because with a single look, he knows this is the woman who was meant to be his.

Belladonna Goodwynne is more than just scandalous... she's rumored to be in league with the devil.

Or at least that's what the local vicar would have everyone believe. Living in a small cottage on the edge of the village, she's content to simply be left alone. But a meddling and well meaning friend has put her in a position that she had never imagined—succumbing to her family's curse to love instantly and tragically. Because no Goodwynne woman will ever find happiness. Love, for all that have come before her, is merely the stepping stone to tragedy and heart break.

Proximity breeds complications...

When Desmond is injured in a most mysterious way, he finds his way to Belladonna's cottage. While she attempts to nurse him back to health, they are discovered. Scandal and honor both demand they marry. But Belladonna vows she will not love him. She will not doom him by giving her heart.

But when 'witch' is whispered on the wind, trouble always follows...And perhaps it isn't Desmond whose doom has been foretold.