To society, Fawkes MacMillan is a nobody; a hanger-on at the edge of respectability with a murky past and an even murkier lineage. But to Lady Danielle Aycock, he is her only hope of salvation before a horrible Christmas deadline.

Having recently lost both her husband and her father, Danielle's only chance to save herself and her stepdaughter from destitution is to announce her pregnancy with her husband's heir, therefore prolonging the settlement of the estate. The problem? She's never been pregnant, and time is running out.

Any man could change that, but she turns to her husband's cousin, desperate enough to brave the whispers about him. When he shows her unimaginable pleasure, Danielle begins to realize perhaps her previous plan was flawed, and she's found all she needs in his arms.

But Fawkes's mysterious connection to the Duke of Stroken isn't his only secret, and as the hunt for a traitor to the Crown pulls him in, he's forced to choose between the only thing he's ever wanted, and the lass who is coming to own his heart.

But what happens when she learns he's the reason she lost everything in the first place?

Contains mature themes.