Dedicated artist Evie Washington doesn’t fancy herself the marrying kind.

But the moment she admitted that her faceless portrait of a naked man was modeled on the devilishly handsome Reverend Swanson, the whole town assumed her innocence had been ruined. Now her family’s determined to save her reputation—even if it means taking away her hard-won freedom.

It’s Brad “Shadow” Swanson’s preacher status that’s a pose—to avoid the law. Now he’s been convicted of the one crime he didn’t commit. And if he doesn’t step up and marry Evie, he’ll have to admit his true identity and replace his collar with a noose. Of course, a life sentence in the spirited beauty’s bed wouldn’t exactly be torture—and it just might be the key to making an honest man out of him.