Life hasn't been easy for Renata Wells. Left penniless in America by her scheming yet softhearted father, she returns to England at the behest of her controlling grandmother. By the time she arrives, her grandmother has passed away. Renata learns she is to inherit a vast fortune-with one very important catch. She must marry a man of noble title before she can claim her inheritance. Independent and strong-willed, Renata bristles at the thought of marriage. She begins an adventure in London that has her courted by many titled suitors. Lord Stratford is one of them; but he is promised to another woman, and seemingly in love with yet another. Lord Stratford is intrigued by this young American heiress. But she has repeatedly expressed her disdain for matrimony. And she seems strangely drawn to the rake, Viscount Waverly. Can Lord Stratford save Renata from ruin and scandal, and persuade her that marriage is an attractive option?