Short Synopsis
Minerva Spencer, writing as S. M. LaViolette, presents Book 2 in the Academy of Love series. Contains mature themes.

Full Synopsis
Gareth Lockheart is one of the richest men in England, but it will also take a proper country estate and an aristocratic wife with impeccable connections to gain entrée into the corridors of power. Gareth is determined to find the right woman the same way he does everything: using logic and mathematics.

Serena Lombard might be the widow of a duke's son, but she's always existed on the ton's fringes. The unconventional French émigré has worked hard to create a secure home for her son and has struggled to establish herself as a sculptor and landscape gardener.

Gareth should have known doing business with a woman would be a mistake—especially a far too appealing French widow who manages to destroy his ability to concentrate.

Serena loves the project she has been hired to do; it's too bad the man himself is so remote and unreadable. Not to mention utterly captivating.

The only thing they can agree on is that they should avoid becoming entangled. But when Serena's dangerous past catches up with her, it is Gareth she turns to for help and he doesn't hesitate to give it. But can a man who needs order give himself up to the most unpredictable emotion of all: Love?

Contains mature themes.