When brilliant botanist Dr. Jorja Theriot comes home to Louisiana's shadow-drenched bayous, she expects wilted wetlands and corporate corruption, not the silent, vine-skinned giant who saves her life. It's the look in the beast's tortured eyes, one scorching touch, his gravelly voice uttering her name like the past tells her the impossible truth: the monster hiding in the moss is the childhood friend, Caius, who once held her heart. Now an oil-tycoon's fire wielding goons creep closer, her family's life is on the line, every kiss tastes of peat-rich danger. If Jorja can't choose between the man she loves and the swamp that owns him, both will burn.