THEY COULD FOOL THE PUBLIC, BUT NOT THEIR HEARTS. . . . — Lord Tarrant needed a woman. Aurelie Carollan needed a place to hide. Her advertisement and his offer seemed to ensure that both parties would get what they so desperately desired. — He would get a faux fiancée in an orchestrated deception to avoid a dreadful matchmaking attempt. And she would find heaven-sent sanctuary from the evil machinations of greedy relatives.

But against her better judgment, Aurelie is boldly curious about the man behind the saturnine manner and mercurial moods, beginning to view him less as a partner in crime and more as a man destined to wreak havoc with her best-laid plans . . . and her heart!