When Victoria Ryan discovers that she is to be married against her wishes, she's willing to share a hidden fortune with anyone who helps her escape.

Viewed by London society as "the bossy American," widow Eleanor Scarborough, the trustee of her late husband's estate, matches wits with an English aristocrat, sent by her mother-in-law, who believes she is a gold-digging harlot.

Mercy Coltrane, a brash young American woman, travels to England to search for her estranged brother. Strident in her quest, she seeks out the help of Hart Morland, whom she knew years ago as Duke the Gunslinger, the hired gun her father enlisted to protect his land. Now Earl of Perth, Hart is back in his native England in a hard-earned position of respect and power, and the last thing his wants is a reminder of his dishonorable past. But Mercy Coltrane proves to be much more than just a painful reminder of the life he left behind. Vibrant, beautiful, and witty, Mercy embodies the life of happiness that Hart desperately craves.