Dashing off in a daring elopement with a prince, handpicked by her mother, Lady Gwyneth Snowdon anticipates an extravagant, secure future. But when a mysterious stranger kidnaps her, Gwyneth fears her happy ending is doomed. Used by his maniacal father, Edmund Pembroke turned his back on society. Seizing the opportunity to say good-bye to his past forever, he makes a deal to separate the pampered countess from a gold-digging imposter. But when Edmund discovers her life is in danger, he is forced to protect the beautiful, well-born Gwyneth Snowdon and to confront his ghosts. Separated from her plush surroundings, Gwyneth learns she's capable of so much-including love for a man with neither title nor fortune. But she begins to suspects there is more to her rugged, handsome guardian than he's chosen to reveal. After finding herself at the center of a sinister deception, can she dare to trust her heart to a man who's spent years deceiving himself?