'Twas a most odd and unsuitable friendship ... and very precious indeed!

As the youngest of four unmarried vicar's daughters, Frederica feared her destiny was to die of tedium in the sleepy village of Barton Sub Edge. Her looks deemed "unfortunate," her willful notions damned as "difficult," she never dreamt the arrival of a rake would challenge her fate in the most surprising way.

For Frederica and Lord Granton, the worldly gentleman from the city, had something in common: boredom. And thus a secret friendship was formed. Frederica lived vicariously through his tales of adventure while he found a delightful respite from the simpering females thrown his way.

But when had their summer idyll turned to love? When had a country miss become a breathtaking lady? Worse, what the devil was a certified rogue who was much too old for her going to do about it?