Rose Portman, determined spinster, has a bit of a predicament. Her great aunt has challenged her to get married before Twelfth Night and promised that, if she does, Rose will inherit the perfect country cottage with the funds to maintain it. Rose has always wanted to get away from London and Society, and this could be her chance! But the catch is that Rose has to attend a holiday house party in York and find a husband among the guests. Worst of all… she must marry for love.

Patience Whitford spent the last two seasons watching her elder sisters make grand matches. She is thoroughly apprehensive with the notion of being limited by marriage. But that seems like an inconsequential concern with no prospects on the horizon to follow in her sisters' footsteps. And to make matters worse, she is uncommonly jealous of all of the military officers she's befriended and their grand adventures. When Major Ashley Stuart is assigned to investigate some petty crimes near his brother's estate in Greenwich, it soon becomes apparent that there is something much larger going on.

Standing before Feldstone Manor, site of so many happy memories, Rose Davenport feels nothing but dread. Her family’s annual visit to the stately home was once brightened by her friendship with the earl’s youngest son, William, but everything changed the day his elder brother was disinherited and William became heir to his father’s earldom. From that moment, William made it clear he has no interest in continuing an acquaintance with Rose. Heartbroken, she sets out to prove that she will simply not be ignored - or outdone - by the arrogant future lord of the manor.

When the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, society beauty Sylvia Stafford finds work as a governess in a merchant's household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood, until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life - and her former love.

Rowley Knight, Duke of Knighton, is too busy being a duke to bother with such nonsense as love. With three heirs, he is in no hurry whatsoever to succumb to the lures of the leg-shackles. He is content managing his siblings and estates, and avoiding society whenever possible. If he can only find someone to manage his young sister, life can go back to its proper order.