"When an ancient tax law is invoked requiring all unmarried ladies to either wed or surrender half their wealth, the quiet village of Fortune's Folly is overrun by a swarm of fortune-hunting bachelors. Marry again? Never! Not after what Laura, the dowager duchess, was forced to endure the first time. Even if her onetime paramour, Dexter Anstrutherm is oh-so-tempting, she knows her secrets would destroy any chance of a future together. Young, handsome and scandalously tempting, Dexter suspects Laura has a hidden motive for resisting his charms ... and he intends to discover it, by any means necessary."--Page 4 of cover.

Miss Alice Lister feels anything but respectable. Bad enough that she is a maid-turned-heiress. Now the insufferably attractive Lord Miles Vickery is certain he can gain her fortune by blackmailing her into marriage--even though it was his deceitful charm that broke her heart once before. But she's positive the terms of her inheritance will prove an impossible task. After all, what rake could be completely honest for three long months?

For his part, Miles finds his newfound frankness invaluable in entangling Alice in positions deliciously unbecoming of a lady. Of course, he doesn't yet know that he's falling hopelessly in love with this formidable innocent...or that he will soon go to impossible lengths to prove himself hers forever....