Miles Redmond, the second son of the wealthy Redmond family of
Pennyroyal Green, has his familys dark good looks, the cool,
studious demeanor of the scientist he is - and formidable sensual
talents, which he discreetly and enthusiastically shares with the
tons aristocratic widows. But the very notion of "love"
and its side effects - poetry, idiocy, obsession - amuses him. When
it doesnt bore him. Which is why hes blindsided when Cynthia
Brightly - the dazzling, slightly scandalous, ambitious and
all-but-penniless belle of the season - manages to steal his heart
at a ball only to break it minutes later with words he wasnt meant
to hear: "Miles Redmond? Why should I settle for a dour second
son when I can have an earl?" The tables turn two years later
when Miles becomes the Redmond heir and Cynthia arrives in
Pennyroyal Green trailing a whiff of scandal and a hint of
desperation only Miles senses. His mocking offer to help her
husband hunt from the lords on hand - as Redmond heir, Miles
couldnt possibly marry her - evolves into an incendiary passion
that upends their notions of love, duty and ambition.
