The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement.

Well removed from London s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine goal: to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincey starts to question the school s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope Nell Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn t so fascinating too fascinating to resist and if Nell s visit to London didn t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles s reporters.

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .