1837. At the Graduation Ball of Miss Debenham's Finishing School, the Husband Hunters Club is formed.

Livy Monteith is as strong-willed as she is beautiful, and she refuses to wed the man of her parents' choosing. She has her sights set on Lord Nic Lacey, a man she has known for years and who as a child once promised to marry her. The fact that he is a rake is neither here nor there, because she believes that beneath his disreputable exterior is someone worth loving. If only she can get him to agree to her proposal.

Nic Lacey is not a respectable man, certainly not the sort of man who should marry a proper young lady like Olivia. Why does she insist on embroiling him in her schemes? And why does he keep falling for them? She is irresistible, that is the problem, but he is determined to keep his distance. No matter how much he might desire her.