Effie Daniels left nothing to chance. A determined CFO of an internet startup, she counted numbers, weighed the cost against the benefits, and always made the argument for the more frugal option. Which meant she hadn’t made her decision to hire a personal chef lightly. However being pampered the weekend before Valentine’s Day would give her the strength to deal with the endless parade of chocolate and flowers that always invaded the office, and would fill her freezer so she wouldn't have to cook for a while. If she happened to hire sexy star chef Nessos Aragnos, well don’t let anyone say the company wasn’t doing well. She just had to remember, she’d paid him to be there and when the weekend was over, he’d leave only his delicious creations behind.

The instant Nessos had seen Effie’s picture on her company’s website, he’d known she was his fated mate. That she’d hired him proved it. Plus, it’d provide the perfect opportunity to seduce her with his food and with his body. He was more than ready to take on the challenge of convincing her they were mates.

When she discovers he’s also a centaur, Effie’s wondering if there’s a little magic, or something, in the food Nessos is cooking for her. She’s willing to accept that Nessos isn’t human. That they’re mates? Well that’s going to take a little more convincing, one delectable dish at a time.

With her ailing aunt in need of care and companionship, Saraid Garwich moves to her family’s forest estate. She’d never liked visiting as a child. She hated camping or anything to do with bugs, getting dirty, and not having the comforts of modern living. Something about the forest had always seemed dangerous. When one night during a fever dream, her aunt tells her that her destiny lies within the heart of the woods, Saraid promises her aunt she’ll go. When she does, she sees something she never thought possible: a man turning into a centaur. More surprisingly, the man is Keilan, her aunt’s groundskeeper. She thinks both of them are crazy and makes plans to return to her life in New York. Except she can’t get the centaur, or the man, out of her mind. And with each passing day, it’s becoming harder and harder to leave.

Keilan Ceffyl needs to find his mate. His family has lived in the secret woods, one of the last vestiges of magic, for generations. When Saraid comes to tend to her ailing aunt, her destiny becomes intertwined with his. She needs to become the Guardian and accept her destiny as his mate. Without her, both of their lines will end and the consequences for the worlds of magic and of man, will be devastating.

But how can he convince a pampered city girl that living and loving through the forest will save them both?