Elise never intends to marry. Marriage is far too restricting, in her estimation. Instead, she grasps what freedom there is in running her Great Aunt Annalies’ boarding house. When Danyal, newly crowned Prince of Pandev, kisses her by mistake, her delicately balanced contentment is shattered.
Danyal isn’t in England to find a wife, as society believes. An English wife would offend the Balkan Separatists who threaten his principality. Such a wife would also defeat his desire to separate his family from the stained reputation which dogs it, which the former Prince, his uncle Kosta, was never fully successful in removing. So why can he not stop thinking about that simple—delightful—kiss, and the woman he held in his arms for only a moment?