Beautiful young orphan Nerina is appalled to find that her uncle and resentful Guardian is forcing her much-loved cousin, Elizabeth, into a marriage of convenience with the disdainful, if handsome and rich, Sir Rupert Wroth.
As if that was not bad enough, Elizabeth is already secretly betrothed to the man she truly loves, an Captain in the Army.
So loyal Nerina exploits her startling similarity to her cousin and takes her place, marrying Lord Wroth and giving Elizabeth time to elope with Adrian Butler, who is about to sail to India with his Regiment.
Having suffered terribly at the hands of her hateful Uncle Herbert and the lecherous Lord Droxburgh, Nerina has come to the conclusian that she hates all men.
And, having discovered that Sir Rupert Wroth's plans to marry Elizabeth were nothing more than a means to carry on his illicit affairs, while keeping up appearances for the sake of Queen Victoria and his ambitious political career, she makes no exception for him.
But what if, in spite of herself, the irrepressible turmoil that Nerina feels in her heart is not hate after all, but the first stirrings of love?

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called Jigsaw. It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.
Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world.
She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.
Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 & 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author.
Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.
Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.