When a proper young lady needs to get out of an unwanted marriage, she calls on one of London’s most notorious scoundrels–her best friend’s brother–to help her convince everyone she’s as scandalous as he is. As a former soldier, Maxwell Marston, Earl of Devery, understands duty. He did his part for queen and country and has lived up to his notoriety as a rogue by pleasuring more ladies than London gossip rags can count. But now that he’s inherited an earldom, he needs to figure out how to fulfill those duties too. He knows finding a wife is somewhere on the list, but surely that can wait. Miss Emily Cavendish hasn’t fared well on the marriage mart, but that doesn’t mean she wants to be used as a pawn to get her father out of debt. When her parents maneuver her into a match with a wealthy gentleman who’s not just awful but might be dangerous, she decides she needs to cause a scandal to dissuade him. In order to be caught being almost ruined, she enlists the only scoundrel she knows well–her brother’s best friend and freshly minted earl, Max Marston. When Emily comes to Max for ruin, he turns her away. But neither of them can ignore the simmering attraction between them. Though Max can’t give her what she needs, he also can’t imagine her with anyone else. Can Emily trust her heart to the childhood crush who’s become one of London’s most notorious scoundrels?