A barefoot maiden. A painfully proper gentleman. And a friendship most unexpected. After losing her entire family to a horrible sickness, Miss Charlaine Palmer leaves Jamaica and crosses an ocean, hoping for a new beginning in England. Unfortunately, her raven-black hair and olive skin immediately mark her as an outsider, eyed suspiciously by the English ton. Her old friend, Lord Markham, as well as his family, however, welcome her with open arms and soon make Charlaine feel at home in a country where she simply cannot fit in. But Charlaine is a woman who never loses faith, her focus always on life’s silver lining, certain that happiness will find her…even if it takes a bit of patience. And thus, when she spots a most bitter and pained-looking gentleman, her heart reaches out to him. Without a second thought, she approaches him, offering her friendship, hoping that he, too, will come to see that life is beautiful. Nathanial Caswell is a broken man. After his fiancée called off their engagement, he fell into a black abyss, the life he had hoped for forever out of his reach. His thoughts turn dark, and he no longer finds joy in his days, only doing what is his duty, what is expected of him. Until his brother is married and calls him to England to join in his happiness. There, Nathanial meets a most unusual woman. A woman who steps up to him without thought for proper introductions and declares herself his friend. Annoyed, Nathanial shrugs her off, certain he shall never see her again. He could not have been more wrong. For Charlaine is a woman not easily deterred, and before Nathanial knows what is happening, he finds his new friend is all he can think about.