When her father gambles away his fortune, the duke's only chance for recouping his losses lies in marrying off Lady Helen to any man wealthy enough to take a bride with nothing to recommend her but a lovely face and an eight-hundred-year-old pedigree. Enter Mr. Ethan Brundy, once an illegitimate workhouse orphan, now owner of a Lancashire textile mill and one of England's richest men. When he glimpses Lady Helen at Covent Garden Theatre, he is instantly smitten and vows to marry her. But this commonest of commoners will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to win the heart of his aristocratic bride.

    High-spirited and unconventional, she is more a worthy adversary than a blushing bride--a fact made all too clear to the Earl of Hyatt when he comes to call. Well-favored, wellbred, and well-financed, the Earl is nicknamed "The Ideal" by an enraptured society, especially those members with daughters to wed. But his long bachelorhood has ended in an engagement that may end in a mystery, for his fiancee has disappeared ....Upon meeting the boorish earl, Maylene is convinced the girl ran off with good reason ...until his lips claim hers in a breathtaking kiss! Caught off her guard, Maylene believes she has lost her mind as well as her manners. But she and the nonplused nobleman form a heated alliance, sparring with words and succumbing to passion. Soon, Maylene begins to curse her inborn talent because the more time she spends in the Earl's embrace, the more she wished his betrothed to remain lost.

    Now she must endure another. This time, though, her lifelong neighbor and country friend--the astonishingly handsome and accomplished Duke of Derrinham, known to the ton as The Diamond--was determined to make the young bucks perceive her charms. Even if it meant his own return to a London house filled with haunting memories. Enlivened by The Diamond's company at every modish affair, Bella was soon piercing gentlemen's hearts by the score. But, in his zeal to find her a husband, the Duke had overlooked something: the fact that her merry chocolate eyes and sweet smile had long owned his heart. And that it required only one kiss to possess hers...

    But soon, Miss Honor Virtue, captivated by the irrepressible Earl, is swept away in a whirlwind of sinister secrets and intriguing romance.

    Of course Grandpapa thought her fiance would be sweet Robert Markholme. But the young man's drowning changed everything. Now the independent lady had to marry a stranger -- Matthew Cameron, whose new estate was in debt But could a marriage of convenience between a reluctant bride and groom lead to a lifetime of love?

    Ever since, she's dreamed of future meetings that end with happily ever after. But can her romantic fantasy withstand reality -- not to mention a most unexpected rival?