When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, 20 years her senior, it was the match of the season. Now, 10 years later, Eliza is widowed. Suddenly, she is left titled, rich and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. She’s always lived by society’s conventions, but now Eliza has resolved to do as she wants. And what she wants is to head to Bath with her cousin Margaret, pursue painting, learn to drive, and flirt with Bath’s most alluring new resident, the infamous Lord Melville. But when the ripples of Eliza’s behavior reach her late husband’s nephew --- who broke Eliza’s heart years ago --- Eliza will learn that freedom does not come without consequences. The only way to ensure she can keep her fortune is to avoid all scandal. But where’s the fun in that?

Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only 12 weeks to save her family from ruin. Kitty has never been one to back down from a challenge, so she leaves home and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of England: the London season. Kitty may be neither accomplished nor especially genteel, but she is imbued with cunning and ingenuity, and knows that risk is just part of the game. The only thing she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs, until their parrying takes a completely different turn.