In 1891, during a voyage to the uncharted isle in the Furneaux Islands near Tasmania, the sixth Earl of Stanbury discovers a saber-toothed tiger thought to have been extinct for more than 10,000 years—a find that will astonish the world and bring great acclaim if he is able to return to England. Learning of the earl’s suspicious disappearance, Lady Samantha enlists the assistance of professor Christian Badia—a noted zoologist and tracker specializing in wild cats who, unbeknownst to Lady Samantha, has a dark past—to join her in a dangerous expedition to rescue her uncle. Despite knowing his notorious reputation as a recluse, Lady Samantha finds herself drawn into a world of physical passion with the enigmatic man she becomes convinced is her soul mate. When the professor embarks on his own treacherous assignment, Lady Samantha fears she may forever lose her newfound love. Unable to simply stand by, Lady Samantha launches her own investigation at great peril to herself.

Wilhelmina Bellingham is an ardent Tory and has two goals in her young life: catching the rebel traitor, General Francis Marion, and avoiding marriage to the fool to whom her father betrothed her when she was only a babe, a man neither she nor her father has ever met. Her first goal is within reach. Willa knows South Carolina's swamps and byways as well as any rebel. With judicious searching and a large dose of luck, she will eventually catch the partisan general. Shedding her betrothed is another matter.
Captain Brendan Ford, a spy with Marion's patriots, stumbles across the perfect way to infiltrate the Loyalist high command when his half brother is killed shortly after arriving in Carolina. Ford assumes his brother's identity as Lord Montford, fiancé to Wilhelmina Bellingham. But his masquerade requires he actually court her, and the untidy little wren of a girl is not a female to inspire courtship. He is thankful his ruse will end as soon as the patriots drive the British from South Carolina.
Neither Willa nor Brendan are prepared for the consequences of war or the betrayals of the heart--but will their allegiance to outside forces keep them from the love they just might find within each other's arms?