In this book, when the dashing Earl of Ardmore tempts Miss Annabel Essex, the most unattainable of the four beautiful Essex sisters, with the promise of a kiss, she resists, just as she snubs his teasing offers of marriage. For what would she get if she married him? Why, nothing but a faded Scottish title and a hovel in the highlands. But by some cruel twist of fate Annabel finds herself in a carriage bound for Scotland (the place she abhors) with the penniless Ardmore - and with all the world thinking they're man and wife! To make matters worse Annabel becomes embroiled in a flirtatious game of words with the Earl - in which the prize is a kiss - and the forfeit - A moment of passionate madness with Ardmore and the choice is clear - marriage or disgrace. Yet when she arrives at the Earl's Scottish Estate - contrary to what she had been lead to believe - she finds the hovel to be a castle and her Earl far from impoverished. And she learns - in the bridal bedchamber and elsewhere - that there is more to marriage than just kissing.