Isabella keeps her family’s restaurant afloat with a secret ingredient—basil that she picks from the bank of a river on Prince Maximilliano’s property. Max never leaves his estate, and the rumor in town is that he’s some kind of monster. The prince saves Isabella when she slips and falls into the river, and she witnesses firsthand his kindness as well as the grief and guilt he carries from his wife’s death. Isabella makes it her mission to pull Max out of his reclusive grief and back into the town he is meant to protect. Falling in love with him wasn’t part of her plan, though…especially since Max has vowed to never allow himself happiness again.