Cressie may be the daughter of a count, but her family has never let her forget that she is the most plain of all of her sisters. Now, years after her debut in London high society, she still hasn’t found a husband…and her father, the stern Count Armstrong, tells her she will now serve as her stepbrothers’ tutor. Left with no choice but to obey his orders, she arrives at her stepmother’s house, where she meets Giovanni di Matteo. He’s a world-famous portrait artist who’s been hired to paint a picture of her stepbrothers. Cressie doesn’t know how to respond when the gorgeous Signor di Matteo tells her he wants to paint her picture, but before long, she feels the distance between the two of them growing smaller. Little does she know that Giovanni hasn’t been entirely forthcoming about his background…