Captured by pirates. Sold to a sultan. This is not how Charlotte expected to spend her holiday.

A dowager duchess recently out of mourning, Charlotte is on her way to a holiday in Greece when pirates overtake her ship and enslave her. When they attempt to sell her to a Turkish sultan, she's sure she can convince the ruler to let her go. She's a matron and mother to two grown sons-and he has a harem and nineteen children. Whatever could he want with her?

Three nights, apparently.

For two decades, Sultan Ziyaeddin I has ruled his dwindling empire from several palaces in Constantinople, but the one on the edge of the Aegean Sea holds his most precious memories-and a precocious daughter who is overeducated for most men. Determined to introduce reforms, Ziyaeddin is far more enlightened than the sultans who came before him. Enlightened and alone. Convincing others of his vision for the empire has been a challenge.

Bored with his harem, he's intrigued by the English woman who is unceremoniously dumped at his feet by pirates. With her skills as a duchess and desire for a daughter, will she be the companion his daughter needs-and the answer to his loneliness?