Lucrezia Vestalis is a librarian hiding a two thousand year old secret. She is cursed to become a Phoenix and burn her lover every three hundred years. When Rome was new, the Vestal priestesses were tasked with persevering knowledge and keeping the prophetic fires burning. Until Lucrezia, the ninth Vestal, denied an Emperor his prophecy and he executed her. While she burned, Venus and Vulcan bestowed the curse to save her. Milo Rhodes is about to be her ninth lover. In the present time, Lucrezia is living on the famed Bellevue Island, where magic is a research topic and myths are the foundation of the cobblestone streets. Forced out of his teaching position, Milo ascends the Library steps the same day Lucrezia sees him in her scrying pool. Despite her resistance, their attraction is instant but if Milo can’t figure out how to break her curse before Valentine’s day, he’ll be another lover reduced to ash.