Olivia Bevelstoke can't resist a good rumor, especially when it concerns her intriguing new neighbor, Sir Harry Valentine. Though she's convinced he's innocent of his late fiancée's murder, her curiosity leads her to spy on him. Harry, a man accustomed to secrets for the War Office, finds himself suspicious of the beautiful woman watching his every move. When Olivia becomes entangled in a potential plot against England, Harry is tasked with watching her, only to find himself falling for the very woman he's supposed to be investigating.
Julia Quinn is the pseudonym used by Julie Pottinger (born Julie Cotler), a best-selling American historical romance author, who says she chose her pseudonym so her Regency romances would be on bookshelves next to those of the successful romance writer Amanda Quick. Her novels have been translated into thirteen foreign languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List nine times.