In 1811, Winifred Wallace told one tiny lie. To secure her future as an independent sheep farmer, she invented an estranged husband named Mr. Spencer Halifax and forged their marriage record. Ten years later, her deception catches up with her in the form of the disturbingly real, distressingly attractive earl on her doorstep.

Spencer Halifax wants to set a good example for his beloved hellion sisters. Ever since their father’s death, he’s tried to play the role of steady, sensible earl—and involving himself with a moderately felonious sheep farmer is decidedly not sensible. But Winnie’s unfettered passion and fierce self-reliance draw him in, even as her closely guarded secrets keep him out.

When Spencer asks Winnie to travel with him to London to disentangle their semi-legal union, she’s horrified. London, after all, is where her infamous mother pilfered several lavish necklaces from besotted noblemen. But she cannot pass up the chance to return the stolen jewelry—so she agrees to travel with Spencer and give back the gems on the sly.

Returning the jewelry, however, is more difficult than Winnie imagined. Monkeys commit theft. Footmen tryst in inconvenient locales. And Winnie realizes that the only way forward is to trust Spencer with the truth of her past—even if doing so threatens their pretend marriage and the all-too-real feelings between them.