Julia Beaumont is a merry spinster whose wicked stepmother wants to keep her unmarried forevermore. When Julia has a chance to attend a ball during the London Season, she jumps at the opportunity, hoping to find a husband who will save her from a less than happy ending.
Gregory Carter, Duke of Ashworth, is London's most notorious rake, known for bedding married women and dueling their husbands afterwards. Officially tired of trysts and attempts on his life, he needs a wife to stand between him and the ton's most lascivious matrons.
When Julia and Gregory meet, an instant attraction and battle of wits sparks between them. A stolen kiss, a flight from the ball, and a lost slipper conspire to bring them together in a plot straight out of a fairy tale. Julia is Gregory's ideal buffer, and Gregory is Julia's ticket out of spinsterhood. They marry, agreeing to live separate lives, but they may find their happily ever after together.