An independent, spirited beauty, Ellen Berg seemed the least likely girl to fall in love with an historic ruin in a small English village. But that was before she was told of her deceased mother's regal ancestry and her legacy of a fifteenth-century English manor house. Curiosity gets the best of Ellen and she leaves her beloved Arizona ranch life for the adventures ahead. But she never expected the adventures to be so adventurous!

The "ruin" Ellen anticipates is nothing less than a mansion, a thing of beauty. But the catch, wouldn't you know, is that the manor was preserved and maintained, and now lorded over, by Ellen's forgotten but, alas, formidable aunt, Lady Laura. Lady Laura, descended from the Earl of Bosfield, is a terror who once intimidated Ellen's mother. But Ellen is of sterner stuff and the struggle is intense, outrageous, and filled with the unpredictable.

Not the least of the unpredictable occurrences on this journey involves a handsome archaeology student who is -- rather surprisingly -- living on the manor property. Ellen is not quite sure which of her dilemmas are more disturbing -- the fight for the manor house or the fight to keep her mind off its attractive tenant!