Marcus Marsden, the Earl of Westcliff, has been a supporting character in several of Lisa Kleypas' previous novels. He finally meets his match and gets his own love story in this second entry of the Wallflower series.
The nouveau-riche Bowmans, manufacturers of scents and soaps, have been unable to break into the very stuffy New York City society scene, and so have brought their daughters to England, part of the wave of rich Americans trying their hand at snagging titles for their daughters. The Bowman girls are not having much success in London either, having spent the last Season as wallflowers, though they have made good friends with some other girls while sitting on the sidelines of every ball.