If only Miss Lisle Berry Thynne's gown hadn't been so fully cut, or she hadn't been caught kissing that prince. But now the ton believes Lisle to be with royal child - and therefore unmarriageable - so she might as well make her desperate father happy by consenting to wed a beast.

Theodora Saxby is the last woman anyone expects the gorgeous James Ryburn, heir to the Duchy of Ashbrook, to marry. But after a romantic proposal before the prince himself, even practical Theo finds herself convinced of her soon-to-be duke's passion.