Memories are important, as Elly well knows. All her memories before she was ten were lost to her, but she finds comfort in the future in the arms of her handsome painter fiance, Alec.

Happiness doesn't last forever, however, and one night she visits him to find him troubled by something. He rebuffs her attempts to speak with him, and with a spin of her heels she leaves him alone to brood. A single moment changes their relationship, and he's taken away from her forever. Or so she thought.

Elly's future has other plans than for her to mourn. She has a new beginning, and that starts with being dragged into a fantastical world of hidden inns, piggish men, and a pale stalker who has terrible plans for her. Her guardian in this new world is Shade, a mysterious man with an even more mysterious employer. Together they learn to survive this new world, and each other, and maybe, just maybe, her happily-ever after gets a second chance.