Ambrose Benson, Earl of Hawthorne, is bored with this years ladies of the ton so he jumps at the opportunity when his brother Anthony bets him that he cannot turn the seasons biggest wallflower into the darling of the ton. Lady Cordelia Edwards does not want to be at any ton event; her father's huge gambling debt lead him to indenture her as a servant in France, and the gossips are destroying her. She is made even more uncomfortable when the much admired Earl of Hawthorne begins to show an interest in her and suddenly everyone else wants to know her better. He takes her under his wing, helping her dress more fashionably, getting her noticed by everyone, making her popular, and it isn't long before spending time with her makes him realizes that there is so much more to her than he could have imagined. But when rumors of the bet, and rumors that she is his mistress, begin to circulate Cordelia is heartbroken and it is up to Ambrose to prove to her that what began as a bet has turned into true love.
I absolutely love the idea behind this story; the wallflower singled out for attention by the most eligible bachelor of the ton and then falling madly in love only to have a little misunderstanding cause a little bit of angst before things end up happily ever after. That is why I think that this works so well as a novella, and why novella's work well for romances in general; because oftentimes to fill space a big misunderstanding can slow things down. Ambrose and Cordelia were wonderful and worked so well together and I loved that, despite the length, we were given so many opportunities to see them enjoying each other's company and falling in love with each other. The bet was an interesting way to get them together and did create a little stir towards the end, which they worked out together and grew stronger through. There was no sex in the novel, but it was so short that it wasn't really missed and I thought the writing was superb and flowed well.
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