Against the odds, Caroline Dutton, the unacknowledged daughter of a notorious peer, owns and operates a London dressmaking shop. Her struggles appear to be over when the new Duke of Ryland appears on her doorstep with an incredible offer. Her late father's will names Caroline his offspring and sets aside a dowry for her to marry into the peerage. At first, Caroline bristles at the demands made upon her, until reality steps in and she realizes she'd be a fool to turn it down. Caroline departs for the charismatic new duke's estate to begin her education and transformation into a lady.

Snatched from his military career, Drayton MacKenzie has the dubious honor of inheriting his great uncle's title. A title consisting of an estate in financial tatters and a directive to see that his uncle's three illegitimate daughters receive an education and proper marriage. Having not grown up in the aristocratic world, Drayton has no idea of the proper etiquette or duties of a duke. With the aid of two titled friends, Drayton will learn his role, and then hopefully marry an heiress with a great deal of money. However, one look at Caroline and Drayton knows his plans are in trouble. He's never met a woman who stirs his blood with just one glance.

Caroline's honesty about her sensual nature draws Drayton into an affair that invites ruin. They flirt with disaster, but as misfits in an elite society, they commiserate together and fall in love. When scandal threatens, they must choose between being sensible and living only with their memories or love with its messy complications.

Ms. LaFoy delivers endearing and zany characters in this wonderful romance. Deviating from the normal heroine, she gives Caroline a past that adds to the heartbreak of the tale. The first in a brilliant new trilogy, it will be difficult waiting for feisty Simone's tale.

Book Summary

The illegitimate daughter of a decadent Lord, the lovely Caroline Dutton has worked hard to become a successful London dressmaker and is content to answer to no man. That is until a devastatingly handsome Duke walks into her shop with the most outrageous demand.

The new Duke of Ryland cursed his fate and his philandering great uncle. To collect his inheritance, he must turn the old Duke’s three by-blow offspring into proper ladies and marry them off. Two are mere children, but Caroline Dutton is all woman — a headstrong beauty he can’t help wanting to seduce.

Now ensconced in Ryland’s country estate, Caroline is being called a Lady and readied for the marriage mart during the next London season. Her dowry is large, her past overlooked, and her prospects bright... except she is breathlessly, madly drawn to the one man who is sweeping her toward scandal — and the sweet satisfaction her heart demands.