Lord Thane Harte, the Duke of Beswick, is more monster than man. Brutally scarred after a bayonet ambush during the war and scorned by society, he lives in seclusion on his country estate in Southend, England. And that’s how he wants to remain.

But then the village’s local spinster makes him an offer he can’t refuse - her body for his name to save her sister.

Despite her ruined, shrewish reputation, Lady Astrid Everleigh is determined to have a proper Season for her younger sister. Though her future as a spinster is assured, she does not want her sister to pay for her mistakes.

But when her uncle pledges her sister’s hand to a scoundrel of the first water, Astrid is forced to action. She makes a bold proposition to the recalcitrant Beast of Beswick - her body for his name. But stirring the beast may put everything at risk… including her heart.