The widowed Lady Stephen Tarkington, Fanny to her friends, has finished mourning her cad of a husband and is ready to enjoy her freedom. The kind of freedom neither a gently bred miss nor a close-watched wife is permitted: dressing up as Aphrodite for a masquerade, drawing gentlemen away from the party, and hinting at late-night assignations with her dance partners. All is going pleasurably according to planâuntil the Roman god Fanny kisses during a masquerade turns out to be Matthew, Lord Lathbury, whose proposal she refused years ago. Lathbury is charming, passionate, inventive, everything Fanny wants in a loverâbut unfortunately, heâs on the hunt for a wife. Heâs more than willing to use all his wicked skills to persuade her back to the altar, but he canât wait forever. And now Fannyâs position is more precarious than she once thought. If the tongues of the ton set to wagging, itâs possible no offer in the world will save her from ruin. But does she want to be saved?