A desperate Society beauty must choose between the titled match she needs and the irresistible solicitor her heart can't resist.

She's spent years pretending everything is perfectly fine.

Miss Poppy Montfort has survived scandal with a smile. With a chaos-prone mother, a crumbling household, and a family name forever teetering on the edge of ruin, she has become expert at bright laughter, quick charm, and hiding just how much rests on her shoulders. But beneath the sparkle, Poppy longs for something unfashionably simple: a respectable husband, a peaceful home, and a life that finally feels safe. The trouble is, no sensible gentleman is eager to marry into her mess.

He is the one temptation she cannot afford.

Mr. Gabriel Ashby is clever, steady, and far too perceptive for Poppy's peace of mind. As a solicitor, he is entirely the wrong sort of husband for the future she has been trying so carefully to secure. Yet Gabriel is also the only man who sees through her bright laughter to the loneliness and strain beneath it. He notices the burdens she hides. He steps in when no one else does. And every time he looks at her, Poppy begins to fear the greatest danger of all?that the one man who feels like home is the one man she cannot afford to love.

But when desire collides with duty, will Poppy cling to the safe future she's always imagined...or risk everything for the man who sees?and cherishes?every part of her?