Lord Winter, a rebellious young viscount, restlessly searches the world for new adventure while his parents wish he would be searching for a wife. In pursuit of a legendary Arabian horse known as String of Pearls, Winter inadvertently fulfills both dreams. He hires a ragged Bedouin youth to guide him across the desert. The youth is a young woman in disguise with hopes of finally making her way to England where her father (unaware of her existence) lives. The two part during a desert battle, shortly after the disguise is uncovered. Winter is presumed dead and Zenia, carrying his child, is mistaken for his wife and encouraged by Winter's parents to keep up the pretense. Winter arrives home three years later to find his beloved waif transformed into a cool, proper English miss, and their reunion is as stormy as their first meeting. Kinsale handles her tempestuous characters well in her latest historical romance.