Lady Beatrice Cavendish has been sheltered and cossetted for all of her life, to the point of becoming a spinster by her doting father. When father dies, Lady C is left with all of his debts and no idea how the world operates, which is a major source of frustration for her. She realizes the extent of how sheltered she's been and determines to become an independent woman.

Mac McTavish only plans to be in England long enough to visit his sister, who has been quiet too long, while he restocks his ship to prepare to sail back to America, where he will finally be master of his own business. Unfortunately, he finds his sister has died, and left two children behind, who are being neglected and abused by their drunken father. Rash and hot tempered, he kidnaps the children intending to take them back with him, but he needs a nanny. This need brings him to the door of Lady C, who seems to be the only one who can direct him to the nanny he is searching out.

Circumstances force Mac to take refuge with Lady Cavendish - she will help him shelter the children if he will help her learn how to manage the nearly bankrupt estate left to her charge.

It took me some time to invest myself in the story, but as it unfolded, I found myself drawn into the author's character studies. Two diametrically opposed personalities coming toward middle ground. I found the journey entertaining and the growth in the characters endearing, and yet there was still the dilemma of "home" to be settled once they found their way to each other. I enjoyed watching Lady C come out of her shell and the tremendous character growth she underwent. The romance I felt was done very well, and compared to other romance novels where the characters are carried away with hormones, this story had a more realistic approach to the physical side of things. It may have been drawn out overly long, and some of the "wickedness" might have been dealt with during the courtship so that by the marriage it wasn't quite as taboo. I was left wondering how they were going to determine where to live until the very end, seeing options open up. I can't say I'm satisfied with the choice that was made, but without writing another hundred pages to alter the decision, it worked. Obviously, one character had to make a big sacrifice, but as the book was about compromise, I might have preferred more middle ground.