A mistress. A mountain of personal debt. A mystical wreck of the building.

Delilah Swanpoole, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” will be a lot more interesting-and perfidious-dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the main one building Derring remaining her, will be the seeds of her liberation. And she vows under no circumstances again to put herself at the mercy of a man.

But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing at all if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero songs a notorious smuggler to a London boarding home known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the stunning, blue-blooded proprietress to obtain his man appears like a little sacrifice.

They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond cause threatens to ruin the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his very own code of honor…or choose a love that might be the truest issue he’s ever known?