... a sweeping tale of a beautiful, innocent woman racing against time to solve a chilling mystery and clear her name. At her side is a man who can neither trust nor resist her. They are both after the truth -- but for very different reasons...

In 1875 Savannah, Rachel Fleming Barlow Newman McCandless is known to her neighbors as the Black Widow. Only twenty-one years old, she has been widowed three times, most recently by the death of Phillip McCandless whose last words to her -- incoherent ramblings about an illegal arms shipment -- have left her terrified as well as grief-stricken.

Phillip's long-estranged brother Captain Daniel Slade, convinced that the "Black Widow" has struck again, pretends to be Phillip's business partner while he tries to uncover the truth about Rachel's apparently fatal charms. Rachel, of course, suspects the worst -- that Daniel is behind Phillip's untimely death. But even that fear can't stop her from desiring the handsome stranger. She has married three times -- for every reason except love. Only now is she discovering that losing her heart can be the greatest danger of all...