Firmly on the shelf, Amanda Fitzhugh is far too level-headed to fall for any man's seductive ways. She had been down that road before and barely escaped with her reputation intact. She is content to chaperone her young cousin's come-out and betrothal to Simon Hannibal Thornton, one of England's most esteemed war heroes, now Lord Sommersby. But when the iron-willed earl with a haunted castle turns his soldierly skills from winning a bride to conquering her companion, Amanda discovers her own heart in mortal danger amid the ghosts of passion.