Notoriety is better than failure, witty and unconventional Rowena Fallows resolves not to marry wealthy aristocrat Thomas Brickdale. Pressured by his family to marry and produce an heir, Brickdale exudes the kind of danger a wise woman avoids. He, too, has no wish to marry, but he's not indifferent to the beautiful Rowena. He wants no more than to put this wayward girl in her place—and in his bed. In desperation, Rowena challenges fate, gambling her reputation by fleeing to Paris but is soon plunged into a terrifying vortex of danger. Destiny threatens to tear them apart, but in a shattering conflict of fury and desire, will Rowena and Brickdale surrender to love?