Max Waring, Viscount Edgeworth, left London after his fiancee broke off their engagement and married his father. After four years abroad in the military, he has returned, and is coerced by his "stepmother" into visiting his family. Abigail Monroe's brother has lost a wager to Lord Edgeworth and he offers Abigail's heart-shaped gold scent bottle - a gift from their late mother - as security for the debt. To get her property back, Abigail poses as Max's bride-to-be while staying at his family's estate. But pretending to be in love awakens passions more intense than Max and Abigail could ever have imagined...