Lady Isla Kinsey knows that the animosity between her family, the Dukedom of Grayburn, and their distant kinsmen, the Earldom of Northcairn, is the stuff of legends. Therefore, falling in love with a son of the enemy house would be apocalyptic. So when Captain Tavish Balfour, second son of the Earl of Northcairn, returns home after Waterloo, Lady Isla is determined to resist his allure. Granted, the not-falling-in-love part would be easier if Isla and Tavish weren't already married.

Captain Tavish Balfour has cashed out of his military commission and is ready to start a new life. But there is the pesky matter of his marriage. As teenagers, they tied the knot of their handfasting—an ill-advised decision he has regretted ever since. Thankfully, Scottish law allows for divorce.

Unfortunately for Tavish, Isla is as captivating and lovely as his memories recall. As for Isla, she fears Tavish will reawaken the unconventional woman she was becoming all those years ago.

Yet even if they were to fall in love again, what could come of it? The history of acrimony between their families still casts a long shadow, and the forces that shredded their love in the past have not changed.