Otilia Kendall is an orphaned miss brought up by her uncle and aunt, the late Earl and Countess of Thornton. Never having met her father, she learned the hard way that love or marriage isn’t in her future. Tired of receiving demeaning propositions from the ton gents, she has decided to make her own way in the world. But then the domineering—and handsome as the devil—new Earl takes over. He gives her a dowry and carts her to London to marry her off. She wants none of it but has no choice. In close contact with the man, it is becoming impossible not to make a fool of herself—yet again!
Edmund, the hot-blooded new Earl, is stunned by the poise of the very grown-up debutante he once met. Weary of women interested only in his title, he shuns any idea of love. It is getting hard to ignore the little miss—together with some other hard parts of his anatomy. The temptation of her is eating at him and making him crave the woman to distraction. Their simmering passion is about to burst. And to the blazes with propriety. And the love struggling to unite them.