He loves a challenge...and she is an irresistible one. Ophelia Reid is a ruthless society beauty. Having purposefully wrecked her arranged engagement to Duncan MacTavish, a future marquis, she wants to make her own choice of a husband. Raphael Locke, the heir to a dukedom, is the most soughta??after young lord in England. A good friend of MacTavish, he is inclined to dislike Ophelia - but after comforting her in a tearful moment, he can't help but wonder if she's not all bad. When MacTavish declares that Ophelia is incurably spiteful, Rafe bets his friend that he can turn her into a kindhearted lady who will one day make a good match. With her parents' blessing, Rafe whisks Ophelia to his remote estate. There, as he tries to show his furious 'guest' the error of her ways, he discovers the surprising reasons for her bad behaviour. When marriage proposals for the reinvented Ophelia begin to pour in, he finds himself wondering if he might be falling in love with her himself...