A brooding Duke. A fiery governess. A will with very inconvenient terms.

Leo Seymour, the new Duke of Bedford, has spent his life preparing for duty, not desire. Reserved, regimented, and utterly respectable, Leo expects his inheritance to come with ledgers, not a loophole.

Instead, it comes with her.

Olive McKenzie has spent years raising other people's children, biting her tongue, and counting coins, until an absurd clause in a dead man's will whisks her from the nursery to nobility. She has no idea why the late Duke named her as the bride-to-be... but if the gowns are silk and the tea is hot, she's willing to play along.

What begins as a marriage of necessity quickly turns into something far more tangled. Olive refuses to behave, Leo doesn't know how to unbend, and society is watching with claws sharpened and rumors ready.

But as secrets surface and sparks fly, Leo will have to choose: keep his inheritance, or risk everything for the woman who's upending his life, one scandalous gown at a time.