Edmund Templeton had always been a huge admirer of wives --provided that they belonged to other men of course. When his father pays off a gambling debt by forcing him into an unwanted marriage Edmund vows that he will not let an inconvenient thing like a bride ruin his bachelor lifestyle.
When Lavinia lays eyes on Edmund, she finds him to be a rude obnoxious rake that rumors had painted him to be. The Duke manipulates circumstances so that Lavinia and Edmund are caught in a compromising situation forcing the pair into a hasty plot to twart a marriage of convenience. By chance Edmund and Lavinia realise the sparks can’t be denied and the pair have to work out this tension and that this marriage might just have a happy ending --but that's only if they don't get killed first. Buy the Heir and the Spare !