At Uptonmoor Manor, nothing blooms without consequence.

After years of grief and self-imposed solitude, Aiden Upton, Duke of Kingsmoor, has resigned himself to a quiet existence devoted to his young daughter and the rare orchids that fill his glasshouses. Love is a risk he vowed never to take again — until the arrival of Miss Fleur Barrington unsettles the carefully ordered world he has built around his wounded heart.

Penniless and dependent upon cruel relatives, Fleur has spent her life fading into the background, unnoticed and unwanted. A summer invitation to the duke’s estate offers a fleeting taste of freedom, but she never expects to find tenderness in the arms of a man forbidden by duty, family, and society to love her.

As desire deepens into something far more dangerous, shadows gather around them. A brother schemes to seize the dukedom, Aiden’s fiercely protective daughter refuses to accept another woman into their lives, and a dazzling actor from London’s glittering stage threatens to steal Fleur’s heart — and destroy her reputation.

Fleur and Aiden must decide whether love is worth risking everything for. Some passions fade with time. Others bloom when least expected.