Gwendolyn Brocklesby needs to lose her virginity, and she needs to do it tonight.

The bespectacled bluestocking beekeeper was initially ecstatic to inherit an unexpected fortune. But then Gwendolyn’s brother, who is also her legal guardian, conspires to marry her to one of his horrible friends so they can split her inheritance. In a stroke of luck, her new bridegroom manages to take a drunken tumble out of his highflyer on their wedding night, breaking his neck.

The problem? The marriage was never consummated, and now Gwendolyn’s brother is pushing for an annulment. If Gwendolyn can manage to divest herself of her virginity in the next twenty-four hours, she will be an independent widow in control of her own fortune. But if she can’t, the future is too grim to contemplate.

Enter the Wicked Widows, who sneak Gwendolyn out of the house and into London’s most notorious bachelor auction. Gwendolyn knows at once which man she should choose—Tom Talbot, the reigning heavyweight champion. Her horrible brother wouldn’t dare to cross the burly boxer who could crush him with one hand. Summoning all of her courage, she places her bid.

Tom knows that the career of a boxer is short, and he needs to find a way to make a living that doesn’t involve getting punched in the face. But no one has ever wanted him to be anything but a brute… until a certain eccentric bluestocking comes stumbling into his life. Gwendolyn has this misguided notion that Tom is some kind of hero.

Now, this unlikely pair are reunited beneath the candlelight at the Wicked Widows’ Christmas Ball. But disaster also comes calling. Can the boxer and the bluestocking fight for a future… together?