A widowed wallflower. A virgin viscount. A wager that sets both their hearts aflame.

Edmund Douglas has only recently, unexpectedly, become Viscount Douglas, but he knows that it's past time to begin his search for wife and start his own family. There had been a lady once upon a time that he'd hoped to spend his life with, but his depleted finances?and a former friend's interference?had firmly closed the door on that possibility years ago. He would never love anyone the way he'd loved her, but perhaps there was some way he could be content with a marriage comprised of mutual companionship and trust.

Minerva Sutherland is only in Town for the Season to chaperone her stepdaughter. Though it's been over a year since her husband's passing, she plans to remain in the background, unnoticed, at every event they attend. There had been a gentleman once upon a time that she'd hoped to spend her life with, but her father's ambitions?and her own lack of desirability?had quashed any potential relationship. It had taken an enormous effort to put her dashed hopes behind her, and she is now determined to help her stepdaughter avert a similar heartbreak.

When a familiar force threatens the shared future of the two people they hold most dear, Edmund and Minerva must find a way to come to terms with their painful history and set right an old wrong. Can they salvage their own future together in the process?

This medium (3-4 hour read) novel is a steamy Regency romance with a happily ever after, no cliffhangers, and is part of a multi-author series that can be read in any order.