Stripped of her dowry and left vulnerable, Eleanor Whitby accepts a governess position at the remote Blackwood Manor, a place as desolate and forbidding as the secrets it holds. She is determined to conquer her new life with the grit and backbone she has always relied upon, but she is unprepared for the master of the house, the enigmatic and hypnotic Lord Julian Blackwood. He is not the aging, dour man she expected, but a man of savage intensity and breathtaking power. Every moment in his presence is a tantalizing battle of wills, a provocative test of her defiance. He promises not comfort, but a thrilling darkness that calls to a wild and wanton part of her soul she never knew existed. She is a pawn in his games, an obsession he cannot resist, and soon Eleanor finds herself tangled in a web of forbidden desire that feels as dangerous as it is blissful. In a house where restless spirits howl and every shadow seems to lurk with untold terrors, Eleanor must unravel the mystery of the man who holds her fate in his hands. But the closer she gets to his heart, the nearer she comes to a passionate and deadly truth that could leave her shattered. Fans of Jane Eyre and Fifty Shades of Grey will be captivated by this steamy and suspenseful gothic romance. But when Eleanor is finally exposed to the Earl's deepest, most scandalous secrets, will she be his ruin, or will he be hers?