Reclusive Viscount Kirk, horribly scarred by a tragic accident that stole the life of his beloved first wife, is a man defined by fury. For years he's eschewed society, growing abrupt and curmudgeonly. But now, when he'd given up on life, he's fallen madly in love with the refreshingly naive daughter of his neighbour, dainty and charming Dahlia Balfour. Desperate to win her attention, Kirk calls in a favour from the Duchess of Roxburghe and asks that she transform him into a fashionable suitor for Dahlia's hand. But what's easy to change on the outside isn't as easy to change on the inside... Dahlia's always dreamed of a fairy-tale romance. Although Viscount Kirk is only seven years her senior, because of his cantankerous ways and lack of social graces she thinks of him as her older neighbour, and is blissfully unaware that he sees her as anything other than an acquaintance. She is shocked to see him at the duchess's grand house party, trying to fit with the very societal rules he so frequently mocks. Surprised by his attention, irritated at his bald honesty, and intrigued that he finds her worth the effort, Dahlia regards Kirk as the opposite of Prince Charming. Without the pretty words and grand gestures she yearns for, can true love find its way into her unwilling heart?