Be careful of me, little one. I could destroy you.' Annie Guinn's carefree, vagabond life with the man she knew as her father came to an end when Elias lay dying, and whispered to Annie that she must find her real father and claim her inheritance as the chatelaine of Rosemont Castle. But the heartfelt welcome Annie received as Lewis Montford's long-lost daughter was spoiled by the whispered hostility of the other members of this odd, isolated household deep in the mountains of Tennessee.

Hardest to bear was the chilling resentment of Montford's handsome, dark-eyed stepson. Christian Belissaud, a skilled wine master who stood to inherit the fabled Montford vineyards and the castle as well. And when the impetuous Annie confided to him that she meant to find out why and how her mother had disappeared - or perished - she knew from Christian's look of alarm that she was in danger, and not from him alone. For the dungeons and parapets of Rosemont Castle echoed with dark secrets and evil intrigue, and Annie's return had reawakened a deadly plot that she alone must unravel, before she became the next victim.