Abandoned by the man she thought loved her, Claire Denham is left with very few options as she faces the prospect of being disgraced for falling pregnant out of wedlock. In fact, she is left with one. Lord Jack Beresford, the younger son of the late Duke of Ashwood, and often considered "the spare" in comparison to his older brother, has long held a torch for the pretty Claire Denham. When fate throws them together, Jack extends a favour to Claire, and she takes it, turning the lives of their families upside down. As they navigate a marriage of convenience, jealousy, betrayal, old lovers, and the fear of being second best all pose dangerous threats to an already shaky relationship ...

At three and twenty, Lady Susanna Beresford is at dire risk of being considered an old maid, though she is determined that nothing but the deepest love will incline her to marry, a fact that deeply vexes her mother. As the season closes in 1810 and Susanna prepares to return home to Hertfordshire unattached, she meets the very man who will indeed change her life forever. A man whom high society would deem inappropriate and forbidden based on the very colour of his skin. But there is more to this man than meets the eye, and their meeting sets in motion a series of events that will undoubtably change society as they know it forever.