Handsome, wealthy, and well-born, Jonas Tallent has everything a gentleman needs to enjoy London society to the fullest—and he has. He's played cards until dawn, flirted with eligible young ladies, and made love to some ineligible ones.
But now he's restless and bored with the mindless frivolity and careless pleasure, so it's with a sense of relief that he takes up the reins of his family's estate in rural Devon. His most pressing need is to hire a new manager for the inn—the center of village life. Such a small task, yet he discovers few decent applicants are willing to live in a quiet country backwater.
Then genteel but impoverished Miss Emily Beauregard applies for the position. Jonas's initial response is an emphatic "no!" Ladies, especially one as attractive as Emily, belong in the ballroom or the bedroom, not running an inn. But with no alternatives, he grudgingly allows Emily to try, and she rapidly proves herself worthy, resurrecting the inn with tact and skill.
