If there is one thing Simon Ambrose absolutely hates, it is small villages. They are full of gossips and busybodies who thrive on other people's misery. As one of the Star Elite's more hardened members, he is far from happy to be sent to a small, run-down tavern in a small village hidden in the wilds of Bodmin Moor.

His reluctance to be there is soon forgotten when it becomes apparent that nothing in the village of Much Hampton is as it seems, and nobody seems willing to tell him the truth. Especially the beautifully intriguing Francesca whose problems seem to be linked to the very men he is after. Is she really involved in spy smuggling, or a mere victim of circumstances far beyond her control?

Although he was certainly the last man anyone could consider a knight in shining armour, his own conscience won't allow him to leave the beautiful Francesca to fend for herself when it becomes obvious that she faces her own battles with avaricious relatives and threatening visitors, and he is quickly dawn into a complex web of lies and deceit, murder and mystery that make him question his very future with the Star Elite. Can this warrior really have a future with the beautiful Francesca, or will spies and smugglers stand in their way?