[close] From a crumbling fairy-tale castle on the stormy Sussex coast to a dazzling, dizzying masquerade ball comes an enchanting tale of a tarnished knight, a daring maiden, and a sweet, searing, storybook love...

At sixteen Phoebe Layton had imagined that Gabriel Banner was a brave and valiant knight, a noble-hearted hero born to rescue ladies in distress. Which is why, eight years later, when she desperately needed help to carry out a vital quest, she could think of no one more suited to the job than Gabriel. But when she lures her shining knight to a lonely midnight rendezvous, Phoebe finds herself sparring with a dangerously desirable man who is nothing like the hero of her dreams. And when he sweeps her into a torrid -- and blatantly unchivalrous -- embrace, she can't help but fear that she's made a dreadful mistake. [close]