Could losing everything be the best thing to happen to Annabelle Thorley? In the fallout of her deceased father's financial ruin Annabelle's prospects are looking bleak Her fiance has called off their betrothal & now she remains at the mercy of her controlling & often cruel brother Annabelle soon faces the fact that her only hope for a better life is to do the unthinkable & run away to Fellsworth where her estranged uncle serves as the school's superintendent Upon arrival Annabelle learns that she must shed her life of high society & work for her wages for the first time in her life Owen Locke is unswerving in his commitments As a widower & father he is fiercely protective of his only daughter As an industrious gamekeeper he is intent on keeping poachers at bay even though his ambition has always been to purchase land he can call his own When a chance encounter introduces him to Annabelle Thorley his steady life is shaken For the first time since his wife's death Owen begins to consider a second chance at love As Owen & Annabelle grow closer ominous forces threaten the peace they thought they'd found Poachers mysterious strangers & murderers converge at Fellsworth forcing Annabelle & Owen to a test of fortitude & bravery to stop the shadow of the past from ruining their hopes for the future