Anthony Colcord, Earl of Wolverton, is determined to rise above the legacy his parents left him and the rumors of his legitimacy. Losing his mother to suicide at nine left him fearing his own future. He will not become a monster like his father and to make sure of it, he must keep his new bride at a distance. If he does not let his emotions engage, he will remain level-headed. However, finding the perfect English bride untainted by the Ton and assuming he would not be attracted to her was his first mistake. His second mistake was thinking his friends would let him live in a loveless marriage.
Lady Jemma Colcord, Countess of Wolverton, was twelve when her parents perished in a barn fire. Her brother, the new Baron Pontefract, at sixteen and allowed his solicitors to convince him to send his sister to the New Hall school, run by nuns. Now grown, Jemma is determined to belong and have what she remembers her parents shared. However, her new husband seems content to leave her to rot in the country while he escapes to London without consummating their union. Undeterred, Jemma must rely on her new-found friends, including Lord Wolverton's former courtesan, to teach her that which the nuns did not.
After an encounter at a function, Anthony decides he can have the best of both worlds. In the darkened closets and alcoves of the wealthiest homes, he plans on enjoying all his new wife offers. But, during the light of day away from a potential scandal, he must keep his distance and save his sanity.
The more Jemma tastes of her new husband only fuels her determination to not only win him for a tryst in a closet, but for her days as well.
In the ballrooms and hallways of London drawing rooms, a battle will wage for the most valiant of causes-Love.
