On a storm-torn night, a band of knights stagger through the gates of Wrenvale Abbey, one of their number bleeding from a sword wound to the head. Bound by her oaths as an infirmarer, Sister Hazel is tasked with saving the man's life. But her patient is no ordinary soldier—he is the barbarian known as Red Roger, butcher of peasants, burner of fields, defiler of churches. He is a monster, and Hazel holds his life in her hands. Yet as Hazel nurses Roger back to health, a growing fascination with her savage patient takes hold of her. What drives men to such cruelty, and what, if anything, does it take to bring them back from it?

As Roger's presence drives a growing wedge between Hazel's fellow nuns, challenges from a self-interested bishop and Roger's bloodthirsty comrades rise to threaten the abbey. Roger may be the linchpin holding the future of Wrenvale together, but with so much darkness in his past, how can he be trusted to do the right thing? Sister Hazel must find a way to reach him.

The Tales From The Book of Roses novels are shorter, standalone stories taking place within the Book of Roses setting. They can be read as an introduction to the series for newcomers, or as side stories to the broader narrative.