Can an unconventional liaison turn into the love match of the season? After the scandalous duel that made her a widow, Alberta Brown was left destitute—and in possession of a cache of ill-gotten goods. Determined to right the wrongs of her thieving husband, she sailed to England to locate the owner of a gentleman’s ring bearing an intriguing coat of arms. But a series of mishaps on- board soon convinced Allie that she was enmeshed in a perilous game. Yet none was more dangerous—or irresistibly tempting—than the dashing stranger waiting on the dock. The marriage-minded Lord Robert Jamison was searching for a woman who aroused that certain something. He never expected to find her in this uncommonly pretty, fiercely independent American he’d been asked to escort back to a splendid country estate. Allie was in grave danger—worse, she vowed never to marry again. Yet Lord Robert’s will was just as strong—and he planned to make this maddening creature his wife, even as passion drove them into each other’s arms...and a reckless liaison flamed into the season’s most indiscreet and irresistible affair of the heart.