AN UNCONVENTIONAL MISS Nineteen-year-old Tessa Darby came to England to escape the tyranny of a cruel stepfather--and to do her utmost to reform the harsh child labor laws of her birth country. Harrison Belmour, the 5th Earl of Penwyck, and member of the House of Lords, is the very sort of influential gentleman Tessa wishes to reach with her impassioned message. But a more self-righteous man Tessa has never met! The exasperating earl simply could not tolerate a woman interested in politics. If only her narrow-minded nemesis were not also the most educated, principled, and desirable of men...

A THOROUGHLY PROPER GENTLEMAN Harrison Belmour was having a devil of a time controlling the deplorable behavior of his mother's house guest, the auburn-haired, spectacle-making Miss Darby. The stubborn Miss Darby would not be directed, and the last thing the aristocratic Belmour family could afford was another scandal. Still, Harrison had to admit there was something tantalizingly refreshing about a woman who was beautiful and intelligent. But he refused to believe that he was falling in love with the willful American chit...even if he continued to fancy the notion of what a perfect countess the lovely lady would make!