Sheltered innocent Miss Marianne Horne had come to Cornwall to care for her ailing great-aunt. She had expected quiet and solitude—not to be drawn into adventure! Surrounded by smugglers, spies and plots, Marianne hardly knew whom to trust. Instinctively, she turned to the enigmatic and handsome Mr. Beck. But plain Mr. Beck turned out to be Andrew, Marquis of Marlbeck—a nobleman who surely would never look twice at the daughter of a country vicar. So why was he insistent on paying Marianne such flattering attention?

Josephine Horne ignores convention. She never intends to marry, so why should she be hedged about with rules? When loyalty to a friend demands Jo risk her own reputation, she doesn't hesitate. Then she meets handsome Harry Beverley, and her ideas about marriage begin to change…. Hal must marry for duty, and already has a respectable bride in mind. His attraction to the unruly, rebellious Miss Horne is ridiculous! Both Hal and Jo have a lesson to learn—and Christmas is the season of forgiveness and love!

On the verge of womanhood, Lucy Horne is excited and nervous about her first Season. Despite being the belle of every ball, she can't seem to quell her feelings for a man she has met only once before—the enigmatic and dashing Captain Jack. Captain Jack Harcourt is determined to put the bloody battlefields of France behind him and find a suitable wife. But secrets from Jack's past threaten to confound his plans—and he cannot offer a beautiful girl a tainted name….