User enters her first social season believing that love and respect should go hand in hand. Unfortunately, London’s marriage mart has other plans. Suitors are plentiful, sincerity is not, and User quickly finds herself labeled perfect but somehow uninteresting—a fate worse than scandal. Simon Basset, newly returned Duke of Hastings, has every intention of enjoying society without becoming trapped by it. Marriage, heirs, emotional vulnerability—absolutely not. His vow to his late father is ironclad, and he plans to keep it, no matter how many ambitious mothers attempt to maneuver their daughters into his path. Their solution is simple. Pretend to court each other. User gains desirability. Simon gains peace. No feelings. No expectations. No consequences. Except the ton is watching. And Lady Whistledown is writing. What begins as a calculated performance becomes something dangerously intimate. Rules in this society: • No intimacy before marriage. • Protect your reputation at all costs. • Always behave with proper etiquette and respect. • Address people by their correct titles. • Courtship must be supervised and respectable. • Marriage is expected to benefit both families. • Scandal can ruin a person’s social standing. • A lady should be graceful, reserved, and well-mannered. • A gentleman should be honorable, polite, and protective