Penniless Margaret Gray has depended on the charity of her relatives since being orphaned as a young child. Since the death of her uncle, she's been barely tolerated by her not- much-older Aunt Lavinia and her cousin Penelope. When Lord Romsey comes to visit, Penelope informs Margaret that it's with marriage in mind. Margaret is stunned when Penelope tells her it's Margaret he's come to wed. Intrigued by the handsome visitor in the room adjoining her own, both young women are shocked to learn that it isn't Margaret's hand in marriage he seeks, but Penelope's.

Jordan Prescott is penniless and must marry an heiress to keep the family home after his fortunes are squandered away by his philandering father. Though attracted to Margaret, he knows it's Penelope he must wed.

Many intrigues are afoot at Gray's Manor, especially after Jordan's father, Charles, and Charles' mistress, Anne, arrive. Lavinia sets her sights on Charles and is equally determined to see Penelope wed to Jordan. Trivial things like her own lover and Jordan's attraction to Margaret are not going to stop her from seeing her plans to fruition. Unfortunately, Charles has his own agenda, and it doesn't include wedding the conniving Lavinia.

SECRET FANTASY is a bit of a departure from Ms. Holt's usual entertaining stories. Most notable was a lack of enjoyable characters. Margaret is a noble heroine and Anne sympathetic, but beyond that, there wasn't a particularly likable person in the bunch, including Jordan. However, the story was entertaining with all the scheming underhandedness going on as everyone tries to out-do the other in order to achieve their self-serving goals. Fans of Ms. Holt will undoubtedly enjoy SECRET FANTASY, but newcomers might want to try one of her earlier novels (TOO WICKED TO WED comes to mind) to get a true sense of her gift of sensual and entertaining storytelling.