Battle-hardened warrior Dirk MacLerie isn't who everyone thinks he is. He's Dirk MacKay, heir apparent to the MacKay chiefdom and Dunnakeil Castle on the far north coast of Scotland. When he returns home after a long absence, will his clan know him, and will the duplicitous enemy that tried to murder him 12 years ago kill him in truth this time?
Lady Isobel MacKenzie is a beautiful, young widow betrothed to yet another highland chief by her brother's order. But when her future brother-in-law accosts her and threatens to kill her, she is forced to flee into a highland snowstorm. When she runs into a rugged, imposing man she thought dead, she wonders whether he will turn her over to her enemy or take her to safety.
Dirk remembers the enchanting, dark-eyed Isobel from when he was a lad, but now she is bound to another man by legal contract, an important detail she would prefer to forget. She wishes to choose her own husband and has her sights set on Dirk. But he would never steal another man's bride, would he? The tantalizing lady fires up his passions, testing his willpower and honor at every turn, even as some of his own treacherous clansmen plot his downfall.
