"Tell me a story, Beast.""What kind of story?""A true one.""You won't like it.""Tell me anyway."Isabel is a hedgewitch, using her herbal magic to improve her family's life, but only in little ways-potions for a bit of added courage at a ball, extra patience with household frustrations, lightening a heavy heart. Every time true disaster strikes, she is powerless to protect those she loves.Then one day her father returns from a journey into the forest. His behavior is odd, and he brings a wild story about a beast who threatens his life, along with a rose that somehow beckons to Isabel with a scent like home. Following her instinct, she seizes her chance-she will go to the beast and save her family from fresh disaster.But the beast is a riddle. He is not at all the monster her father described. He hides perpetually in shadow. His life, his home, his stories are full of mysteries that Isabel is increasingly desperate to unravel.When she finally uncovers the reality of the curse that keeps him hidden away from the world, will her powers be enough to break his spell, or will she yet again fail to save someone she has grown to love?