Emma Henley wants only to escape her fifth Season and move into a house of her own with her like-minded friends, where they can pursue their work with Lady Lyndlington’s committee to agitate for political reform. Disdaining elegant but useless Society gentlemen, she refuses to become a convenient wife who will be expected to run her husband’s household and bear his children while he chases prettier women. And of all the Society gentlemen she knows, none is more charming, rakish and idle than handsome Lord Theo Collington. So why does she find it so hard to resist him?

For his part, as a rich and well-born bachelor, Theo has become so accustomed to being pursued and flattered that Emma’s no-nonsense set-downs at first anger, then intrigue him. As they trade barbs, he comes to appreciate not just her blazing wit, but the passion he senses beneath her plain facade. And when this independent lady makes him a scandalous proposition, despite his better judgment, he is overwhelmingly tempted to accept…