Archie Mansfield has done the unthinkable: gambled away the family estate, Mansfield Abbey. His perfidy, however, goes even deeper than losing the family home. When his sister, 25-year-old spinster Helen, goes to Captain Westmoreland to attempt to make him see reason and not take Mansfield Abbey, she is stunned to learn that Archie has also gambled away her virginity. Luke Westmoreland has a grudge against the Mansfield family for the father's poor treatment of his ward, Luke's mother, and is unwilling to consider Helen's pleas for her home.

Luke and Helen strike a deal, negotiating with one another over the terms of their relationship. Luke is intrigued by the spirited woman, and Helen finds herself very much attracted to the former pirate, whose place in London society changed when he performed a heroic deed at sea. Luke longs to fit into the society in which his father, a man who has never acknowledged him, belongs. Helen agrees to teach him the finer manners to help him. Somewhere along the way, the two develop a very strong attraction to one another. There is someone in their lives, however, determined to keep them apart and use them to further their own desperate desires.

Cheryl Holt continues to delight readers with the outstanding TOO WICKED TO WED, my favorite story to date. Helen and Luke are wonderful, sensual characters, absolutely made for one another. There is a fun side story woven within the lives of this couple, and the villains are truly evil in their Machiavellian plotting to ruin Luke and Helen's happiness. Enjoy!