Artemis Jones -- 'respectable' finishing-school teacher by day and Gothic romance writer by night -- has never lost sight of her real dream: to open her own academic ladies' college. When Artemis is unexpectedly called upon by a dear friend, a fellow Byronic Book Club member, to navigate her first London Season, she comes at once. Who knows, perhaps she can court the interest of a wealthy patron for her school. As long as she can avoid her high-handed aunt's schemes to marry her off. Dominic Winters, the widowed Duke of Dartmoor, needs a wife--someone who will provide him with an heir and help him to manage his spitfire adolescent daughter. The problem is, Society has dubbed him 'The Dastardly Duke.' Rumors are rife that he murdered his mad wife, so his choices for a suitable bride are limited. But then, he meets the ravishing and passionate Artemis Jones, who might just be everything he needs.