Amid the first snowflakes and the season's festive celebrations, Laurentia Cabot made up her mind. She would not marry Lord Villiers, the man selected for her in her grandfather's will. Though she never laid eyes on him, Laurentia knew the lord's reputation as a notorious gambler. Surely such a gamester would squander her considerable fortune.

So angelic Laurentia Cabot did the unthinkable -- eloped with the first stranger she met! Thomas Adolphus Swinfield appeared pleasant enough. And certainly quite handsome. Best of all, he was agreeable to a divorce after one month of a sham marriage. The last thing Laurentia expected was that her husband would steal her heart. But the birth of love is only the first surprise of the season. Thomas, too, is playing at deception, and when the truth is revealed, it might just undo Laurentia...or ring in a Christmas miracle where a lord finds redemption in his loving wife's arms.