When entering into a fight with scandal, it’s best to roll with the punches fate brings.
Duncan Stapleton, Lord Frampton, adores the time he spends in the boxing ring as much as he does being a rake in London. He has an affinity for boxing and a natural talent, and with each illegal bout, his confidence grows. Though the sport is wildly dangerous and ultimately took his father’s life, it’s the only thing he wishes to do with his life and it’s a fat lot better than going into the church as his mother recently suggested… until a powerful jab to the head relieves him of his memories and he’s left on the side of a road one early October evening.
Miss Phoebe Bidwell is tired of grieving. With most of her family dead, she takes refuge in her aunt’s small Surrey bakery, but those skills in creating confections don’t prepare her when a handsome man stumbles into the shop one morning with no idea of who he is or where he came from. Deciding a string of little white lies is acceptable in order to have a bit of happiness for herself, she settles into sin with him.
The autumn days go by in bliss, but when Duncan’s brothers descend upon the cottage demanding a surcease to the blatant scandal, Phoebe and her pretend husband remove to London. Just as his memories slowly come back, they are forced to wed for real, and life shifts. Suddenly he wants a return to his rakish life from before, and she’s a fish out of water in this new world of the ton, but when two fighters are against the ropes, they’ll either need to come out swinging or declare defeat, especially when the prize is broken hearts or love. Only they can decide.