Three young girls left at the Penwich School for Virtuous Girls formed a bond that enabled them to survive the abuse at the orphanage. Fallon O'Rourke found herself deposited there by her late father's aristocratic employer. It made no difference that her father died on a foolish errand for him. She was an unwanted inconvenience. Now, Fallon works as a maid and discovers the "blue bloods" cannot keep their hands off the glorious red-headed Amazon. After losing her last job, Fallon transforms herself into a groom. It will mean more money and no battling of grabby hands. That's the good news. The bad news is she lands a position in the Decadent Duke's household.

Dominic Hale, the Duke of Damon, endured an abusive childhood where his grandfather tried to rid him of his father's sinful ways. The beatings and terror he suffered only enforced his rebellion into becoming a sinful and wicked man. Dominic notices that women and alcohol increase the numbness and emptiness in his life until an unusual groom enters his employment. A lowly servant pricks his conscience with a mere searing glance at his sinful behavior.

When Dominic exposes Fallon's charade, repressed feelings abound. Fallon's hate of aristocrats collides with Dominic's revulsion of emotional commitment and monogamy. The insanity of the chemistry between them cannot grow until they each reconcile their past.

Ms. Jordan's newest romance packs an emotional punch as the finely honed characters grapple with histories of abuse. Fallon and Dominic's stubbornness interferes with their healing and only their acceptances of the past can give way to forgiveness. The first in a new series is an intense and dark romance that will touch readers' hearts.