A fussy prig of a duke meets his match in a notorious widow.
The Duke of Hartwood is a precise, exacting man. As head of the prestigious and well-respected Barnes family, he demands perfection. A Barnes must be above reproach and never mentioned in the gossip columns. When a distant cousin's widow decides to scandalize London by courting disaster and tainting the Barnes name, Hartwood is summoned by his family.
Do something, anything, about Mrs. Celia Barnes.
After a terrible, lonely marriage, Celia has found her independence as a widow. Vowing never to wed again, she embraces the social whirl and outlandish behavior. Thumbing her nose at the priggish Barnes family is vastly pleasurable...until the Duke of Hartwood unexpectedly barges into her bedroom, demanding Celia cease embarrassing his family. He doesn't care if she beds every man in London, just be discreet about it.
Celia has never responded well to authority, and Hartwood is no exception, even if she finds him attractive. They agree on only one thing…
Mutual dislike.
But one angry kiss and a far too pleasurable carriage ride later, dislike has turned into something else… an unexpected passion, so strong it threatens to ruin them both.