Odette is one of the most sought-after young women in Thornbeck. Now twenty years old Odette has been living with her uncle for the last ten years--since her parents died of the plague. She has a soft spot for the poor of their town. Odette's uncle supports her decision to wait to marry and allows her more freedom than she can expect after marriage: he even helps her distribute the food she illegally poaches from the margrave's forest.
Jorgen is the margrave's huntsman and tasked with ensuring the wealth of animal life in the forests. He notices a significant dearth of large game and worries about wolves or large boar, both of which pose a danger to Thornbeck's people. When Odette loses an arrow in the woods Jorgen is certain the poacher who killed his father has returned.
When the two meet at the midsummer festival Odette and Jorgen are unaware their mutual attraction is overshadowed by their professional animosity. They develop a liking for each other fraught with uncertain tension: Odette knows he is the forester who seeks to catch her and stop the supply of food to Thornbeck's orphans, Jorgen seeks the poacher with vengeance on his mind.
Outside political forces force Odette to take risks which causes her to be caught and brutally injured. Jorgen discovers the identity of his poacher but tries to protect the woman he's come to love. Neither can stop the margrave's justice and neither expects the young lord's punishment.
In this blending of Robin Hood and the Swan Princess Odette and Jorgen find friendship and faith leading them to each other. Other suitors try to blackmail Odette and her uncle into a match she resists and to remove Jorgen from the social and political landscape. Younger teens will enjoy the clean romance and quick adventure of The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest.
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