Penelope Presley has suffered through unspeakable loss and scandal. Forced to live under her cruel Grandfather's thumb, she finds herself both relieved and frightened when he tells her she will be marrying the man known as the Beast of Yorkshire. Having already lost two wives and a fiancée, Duncan Taggart, Duke of Yorkshire, is desperate for an heir. To have an heir, he must have a wife, but who is ever going to willingly marry a man with a reputation such as his? He takes matters into his own hands and pays Penelope's grandfather an exorbitant amount of money to marry her. When Penelope arrives at Taggart Hall, it is to find her future husband is not the old man she believed she would find. Instead, he's a handsome, virile man that makes her heart race and her body ache for his touch. The longer she's around Duncan, the more certain she is that not only does he not deserve the horrible nickname he has been given, but that he also had absolutely nothing to do with those women's deaths. While he is away tending to business, Penelope's world falls apart. Uncertain who to trust, she flees to London with only the clothes on her back. When Duncan arrives home to find her gone, he wastes no time going after her. Will he be able to find Penelope before the killer does? And will Penelope and Duncan ever be able to find the happiness they deserve?