"Lock up your daughters and even their maids, neither are safe from that Bright Haired Scoundrel, Lord Greystowe's uncivilized heir " So the London papers decree and notorious rake Kieran O'Flaherty flees to Ireland to hide from the scandal attached to his name. He's tired of having his grandfather direct his life and wants to escape the life of a dependent heir as he settles into his ancestral home. At Black Rose Castle, Kieran meets Rose De Lacy, a determined spinster who follows the philosophy of a revolutionary feminist writer. For Rose, the joke is on the absentee English landlord, Baron Grey, (O'Flaherty) as she is the steward in charge of his estates--a position traditionally held by men. Through correspondence to England, she's known only as The Honorable R. De Lacy. When Baron Grey suddenly arrives, Rose is certain she'll be sacked because she's a woman. Rose challenges Kieran in ways he never expected to be challenged. She cherishes her freedom and seems immune to his charms. Can he convince Rose that marriage is not the life indentured servitude she imagines it to be? As an adept in the magical arts, Kieran O'Flaherty struggles to win the hearts of his people, the Fierce O'Flahertys and to free Black Rose Castle from an ancient and menacing evil.