Heiress Antoinette Dupree has never misjudged a person as thoroughly as she has Lord Rudyard Appleby. Believing him a friend of her late father, she did not expect him to betray her. His threats are simple. He wants her money and if she will not marry him, he will harm her and marry her younger sister. Having shredded her reputation, Lord Appleby sends her to his estate to contemplate her choices. Traveling by coach with Lord Appleby's minions, a highwayman holds up Antoinette. She fears the mask man is in league with Appleby and wants an incriminating letter she has hidden.

Gabriel Langley has vowed to destroy Appleby. Cheated out of his family's estate, Gabriel needs to retrieve a letter written by his mother to regain his inheritance and destroy Appleby. Armed with information that Appleby's mistress is arriving, Gabriel holds up the coach believing Antoinette has the letter. When robbery does not gain him the information, Gabriel begins to seduce the little sparrow.

Gabriel and Antoinette work at cross-purposes. Suspicion keeps them from revealing their objectives but passion keeps them together. Gabriel unleashes her wicked emotion and Antoinette tames the wildness within him. Separately they cannot defeat Appleby. They must overcome their fears and trust one another before they can succeed.

Ms. Bennett creates a triangular conflict as Antoinette, Gabriel and Appleby battle one another with no one knowing whom to trust. With Gabriel and Antoinette's world in jeopardy, they strike out, landing both in one perilous adventure after another. An entertaining read with sparkle and zest that will please readers.

Book Summary

Desperate to save her reputation, the beautiful heiress Antoinette Dupre escapes to Wexmoor Manor, a country estate in Devon. But she gets more than she bargained for when she encounters a masked stranger who, with just one touch, awakens in her an irresistible desire.

Gabriel Langley is on a mission. Antoinette has a letter he needs to take back his family's ancestral home, and he is willing to go to any lengths to claim it—even seduce her. And though aware he is playing a dangerous game, he cannot resist returning to her bed in the shadow of darkness . . . to become her secret lover.

But when Gabriel's true identity is revealed, their passionate midnight interludes are threatened. And they must face a web of scandal and blackmail that could destroy their one chance for love . . .