Then, in one harsh night, Christie's world is changed forever. She is shocked to discover her Uncle Philip's unbrotherly love for her mother... but even worse is the way he now looks at Christie, his eyes bright with tortured passion. Fleeing to New York City, she finds her real father... a pathetic, helpless, hassbeen. Desperate and heartbroken, she turns to Gavin, who travels with her to The Meadows, the plantation where Christie was born. In Gavin's arms, in the first, tender moments of true love, Christie finds a refuge from her painful memeories. But the Meadows is blighted by its own dark secrets-and all too soon Christie is torn from Gacin's embrace. Now as black storms of evil gather around her, Christie must struggle to break the cruel bonds of the past.... to defy the curse that has haunted Cutler's Cove for generations....