Lady Diamond Glain Carmichael, paragon of propriety, is horrified when she discovers her headstrong younger sister at the Royal Colonnade Library reading books that would enrage their ducal father. Worse, this disaster-in-the-making has been abetted by an outspoken, opinionated librarian named Mr. Abaddon Grimoire.

Abaddon clawed his way free of a life of poverty and crime thanks to the refuge he found at the Royal Colonnade Library, and hes determined to help other people find their escapes as well—in the pages of the librarys books! He issues Glain a challenge: Spend a fortnight exploring the volumes on the librarys shelves; if after two weeks, she still wants to prevent her sister from visiting, he wont interfere.

Abaddon soon realizes that beneath Glains icy veneer beats the heart of a loyal, loving, and passionate woman, and Glain comes to see that Abaddons devotion to books is a respect for truth and learning. A former guttersnipe and a dukes daughter arent the stuff of matches made in Mayfair, but perhaps happily ever afters arent just for fairy tales!