His reluctant belle… Juliet Templeton didn’t embark on a risky London season in search of a fairy-tale. Fluttering hearts, yearning glances and stolen kisses are for starry-eyed debutantes, not disgraced, penniless females approaching spinsterhood. But when her quest to find a dull, respectable husband leads her to grumpy, maddening, brilliant Lord Cross, her foolish heart overrules her head, and insists on beating for him alone. Her irascible earl… Flirtatious, witty Juliet Templeton is the last lady Miles Winthrop should have trusted with his heart, and the only lady he ever has. He leaves for the country to escape her tempting lips and teasing eyes, vowing to forget her. But when Juliet turns up at his house party in the wake of a disastrous ton scandal, he discovers he’s still a captive to his deep desire for the bold, audacious beauty. A battle of wits, and wills… The passion that began in London soon flares to life again, sparking a battle of wits and wills that has them balanced on the brink of heartbreak, or happily-ever-after. Will their dangerous game of seduction end in ruin, or will two people who were never meant to be together, find they can’t bear to be apart?