Marianna Marsham is a highly successful businesswoman. She has no time for the aristocracy and they don't understand her commercial world. She has forged a privileged, influential life on her own merits after suffering tragedy and no man will succeed in taking it away.

Darfield Buchanan, Duke of Iversleigh has long ago given up caring about the gossips calling him the Duke of Ice. All he cares about is raising his illegitimate son in a loving home. How he is seen by the rest of the world is of little consequence to him.

When he is forced to take notice of his new neighbour, he expects her to be an ancient widow. The beautiful woman he is confronted by sweeps away all his preconceived notions of how those outside of elite society live.

But Marianna' expectations of the Duke are very different to his for her.