Entangled by their pasts, a rakehell lord and an outspoken lady find passion that flares in their present. Will they have a second chance at romance, or will the sins of the past keep them apart forever? 

When Lady Henley Killigrew's father dies and his title of earl passes to a not-so-friendly cousin who wants her and her two younger sisters out of their elegant London townhouse, she takes them to Moonstone Cottage, a lovely manor house they inherited from a maiden aunt in the Cornwall seaside village of Moonstone Landing. But their funds are limited, and the new earl is a stingy guardian who will not loosen the purse strings to allow her to properly maintain herself and her sisters in their new home. The only way to save them all is for her to marry.

It’s Christmastide 1817, and Miss Christiana Smythe, daughter of a squire, is not looking forward to the social obligations of the season. Wanting nothing more than to care for the area’s sick and ailing animal population, doing the rounds in glittering ballrooms festooned with holiday finery makes her lightheaded. Yet, it’s a necessity to realizing the dream of love.

Lady Cassandra Fallon is finally ready to take control of her life and join her late mother’s investigative society. She’s more than confident she can do the job—even when her first case involves a potentially deadly scandal. What she’s not quite prepared for is her brother’s attractive (and increasingly distracting) friend acting as her self-appointed bodyguard....

The widowed Duke of Averell is trying to be a better man...But when he spies a young woman, reading the Iliad beneath a tree, no less, Marcus forgets all his good intentions. Miss Weatherly is outspoken, intelligent, and enamored with the ancient Greeks. When she brazenly offers to show him the constellations later that night, Marcus readily agrees. Unfortunately, Miss Weatherly is not the woman Marcus has come to Halloway Park to offer for.