Until a year ago, Xavier Asherton, the Duke of Northcliffe, had known only three things about Lady Diana Fitzwilliam. She was young, beautiful, and a widow. Since then, Xavier has also learned, after his younger brother, Raphael, died in Lady Diana's bed, that she was his brother's mistress. Unfortunately, for many past tormenting and sexually frustrating months, Xavier has also learned that Lady Diana is now the only woman he wishes to take to his own bed. Being propositioned by Society's most eligible bachelor, Xavier Asherton, the Duke of Northcliffe, would no doubt be a thrill for any woman. Unless they are Lady Diana Fitzwilliam. Because Diana knows, no matter how much the duke might express his desire for her, that he must also harbour anger toward her for the manner in which his brother died. Nevertheless, the passion and desire burns so hotly between the two of them, they are unable to deny it. Or each other. But Diana fears what will happen when or if Xavier discovers her secret.

Andrew Belgrade, the Duke of Essex, has attempted for years to restore the Belgrade family name, after his mother ran off with the family butler ten years ago, and his father lost himself in drink and ladies of the theatre, before then dying of the former. To add to the scandal, five years ago, Andrew's only sister, Elena, eloped with a man she had only known for a week. But, at least, she had chosen to remain in Scotland with her husband after the wedding, rather than bring that scandal back to London. As a result, Andrew holds himself aloof from all possibility of scandal. He does so by choosing his friends carefully and otherwise remaining aloof from Society and any romantic involvements. He is suitably saddened when he receives a letter from a Miss Catriona McGregor, informing him that his sister and Miss McGregor's brother have both been killed in a boating accident. It is a total shock to him when Miss McGregor then adds that the custody of the couple's four-year-old son, Malcolm, now lies with him. Cat has no idea what to make of the aloof gentleman who arrives in Scotland claiming to be the brother of her now deceased sister-in-law, Elena. Oh, Andrew Belgrade, the Duke of Essex, is aristocratic enough to bear that title, but he is also cold and arrogant. To such a degree, Cat resists relinquishing her nephew, Malcolm, into his guardianship. The last thing Cat expects is to feel attracted to this coldly distant gentleman. Or for him, albeit reluctantly, to return that attraction...

Gideon Rhodes, the Duke of Esher. Gideon felt a heavy weight in his chest as he watched a coach approaching down the long driveway to his Cornish estate, the home where he had retreated ten years ago after being ostracised by Society following the sudden death of his wife. Then two weeks ago he had received a letter from a solicitor telling him that he was now the guardian of nineteen-year-old Lady Lydia Montague, the daughter of his one-time friend, Lord Michael Montague, the Earl of Chessington. Quite what Gideon is to do with that young woman, once she is residing in his household with him, he has no idea. Until he sees her for the first time and knows that the only thing he desires of Lydia is to have her beneath him, in his bed, as he claims her for his own. Lady Lydia Montague. She had never even heard of the Gideon Rhodes before her father’s solicitor informed her the duke was to be her guardian now that her father had succumbed to the wounds he had received during the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, once it became public knowledge Lydia was to be Esher’s ward until her twenty-first birthday, she was bombarded with information about the man. Rumour said he had been a cruel husband. That he had murdered his wife. That he was now a scarred recluse living in the wilds of Cornwall. All Lydia knew of him for certain was that she was to be his ward and live with him for the next two years. Then she sees him for the first time. Gideon is tall, dark, and indeed scarred. He also causes her pulse to race, her body to heat, and she can think of nothing but the two of them naked together, their limbs and bodies entwined. The moment Gideon looks at her his eyes seem to darken with that same desire. But what of his dead wife? Is it possible Gideon did kill her? And if he did, will Lydia receive the same fate if she allows the attraction between them to deepen?

Having suffered through yet another Season without, at the age of one and twenty, becoming betrothed or engaged to any of the vacuous young fops of Society, Lady Olivia Buchan is sent to stay with her mother’s cousin and her husband on their island home for the summer months. After which, Olivia is to go and live quietly at the family’s country estate in the wilds of Yorkshire, well away from London Society, and any possibility of her unmarried status ruining her two younger sisters’ future chances of a betrothal and marriage. What her mother couldn’t have known when she sent Olivia away is that three of His Majesty’s ships and their crews are currently visiting the island, at the behest of the Prince Regent, as his representatives during the island’s summer celebrations. Those ships are under the command of the tall and imposing Admiral Lord Magnus Forsythe, Earl of Rockborne. A gentleman known to be a hero during the long years of sea battles against the French. One look at this haughtily magnificent and unmarried Rockborne and Olivia knows exactly why none of London’s pretentious young men have ever appealed to her. They could never compete with such mature and masculine perfection. Unfortunately, Rockborne takes that same look at Olivia and thereafter attempts to avoid her company. But Olivia, having seen the only man she could ever consider taking as her husband, will not be deterred so easily. Not even when a scandal from Magnus’s past, involving her own family, is revealed.