Thomas Seabrook, the penniless Duke of Wentworth, walks into White's for a nightcap. He leaves no longer in need of coin. In fact, he has become a wealthy man and owner of Hamilton Whaling Industries of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and guardian of a seventeen-year-old girl. Thomas travels to Boston, intent on bringing his ward back and marrying her to the first eligible gentleman who requests her hand. However, the first gentleman to ask for her, is his own brother Sebastian. Thomas refuses because, bloody hell, he wants her for himself.

Emma Hamilton is unhappy with her new situation. Her papa raised her to be independent and assertive. How dare this stranger, this moody nobleman, dictate what she can and cannot do? When she is thrown into a London Season, being introduced to one gentleman after another seeking a husband, she realizes that only the duke will do. How can she break through the duke's hard exterior and uncover the loving, caring gentleman she knows he hides from everyone?