It’s a bittersweet homecoming for Major Royce Kingsley, who returns from a military campaign to find his family’s proud reputation damaged by the actions of a disinherited brother. But Royce still has his estate, his fortune, and most importantly, his honor. So when a rare moment of indiscretion on his part ends in the drunken seduction of a beautiful innkeeper’s daughter, he sets out to do the right thing and take the young woman as his wife.

Nineteen-year-old Imogen vowed long ago that she would never make the mistake her mother did by trusting a man—any man—to treat her kindly. When Royce informs her that he is going to marry her, her first instinct is to resist. But Royce is not a man to be put off from doing what he believes is right.

Royce quickly realizes that Imogen is in desperate need of both firm guidance gentle, loving care, and launches an unconventional plan to regress her to a time of vulnerability where she can learn to trust. Proud Imogen initially resists, but soon finds herself responding to her husband's methods in ways she never anticipated.

The peace she soon feels under her husband's care is unlike anything she has experienced before, but can Imogen trust her new husband to protect her when an old enemy plots to tear her from his loving arms forever?