[From back cover]: Linnea didn't dare dream of her future. Though she happily cared for her elderly mother, she secretly yearned for more. But no man, especially not one as fine as Seth Gatlin, could ever love a woman with a life as tainted as her own . . . ! Seth's heart was heavy with the past. Still, he busied himself with helping his stepsister and her son, but he ached with emptiness - until he shocked the townspeople by courting Linnea Holmstrom. Though they whispered about her behind her back, she possessed a grace and courage that drew him to her - and broke the leaden prison around his heart . . . !