Gemma Stirling is an attractive and talented young woman, working as a designer for a famous fashion house. On the surface, she has the world at her feet.

However, when she was twelve, Gemma was attacked and sexually assaulted on her way home from school. Since then, Gemma has been wary of relationships with men, and has kept her attack secret from everyone but her closest friends, Jane and Sarah.

When she meets Mark Winters, Gemma's fear of intimacy is overcome by her desire to get closer to Mark. But Mark is hiding a secret of his own...


Carla Godfrey was born in Norfolk in 1986 to musical parents and started writing at an early age. She moved to France aged twelve and speaks fluent French. She has always had a passion for drama, particularly period drama, and her favourite author is Jane Austen. She currently lives in Norfolk.