Theola would have done anything to get out of England, but escape was proving more confining, more dangerous than her former prison.

She had always been nothing more than a glorified Cinderella--a poor little cousin who waited hand-and-foot on the elegant young Lady Catherine Bourne.

But now Lady Catherine had left England and was sailing through the Adriatic on her way to marry the king of Kavonia. And Theola was sailing with her! She was free at last!

But when the ship docked in the Kavonian harbor, Theola's new-found freedom vanished as quickly as the morning mist. The peaceful little kingdom was under seige, its imperious monarch overthrown by his own people.

And before she had time to unpack Lady Catherine's bags, Theola found herself in an empty palace guarded by the fiery, handsome man who had led the revolution--the passionate and unpredictable conqueror of Kavonia.