Born in a tavern to an actress, all Scher Martin has ever wanted is respectability and a family of her own. Then Kit Frazier, the fourth son of a titled family, offers for her, and Scher seizes her chance. But instead of family, Scher encounters ridicule, mockery and Kit's cousin, Viscount Blackstone. Scher sets Blackstone's heart afire with a single glance. He knows what she wants... what she deserves. But his life is a sham from which he cannot escape, his wealth and newly acquired title built on a public lie undergirded by murders no one will admit happened. Blackstone also knows Scher's heart beats only for him, and he belongs to another.