For years Lady Astrid Derring has survived with a skeleton staff, borrowed gowns and cucumber sandwiches gobbled up at the galas she attends. Never having lived down the scandal of her husband abandoning her to avoid prosecution for his crimes, she has endured wagging tongues and indecent propositions from noblemen who deem her ripe for the plucking. When word reaches her that her husband is living under an assumed identity in Scotland and betrothed to an heiress, one course of action looms obvious. Astrid must stop that wedding. Only her journey to Scotland is fraught with mishaps, all which toss her in the path of Griffin Shaw - a rough, arrogant American who time and again threatens to melt her icy reserve. When Astrid's confrontation with her husband inadvertently results in his death, she finds herself under suspicion and on the run in a strange land depending on the help of the handsome American who scandalises her with his wicked gaze and bold words.