Angela Palmerston has been cloistered away in an abbey where she fled after she was ruined by the man she loved.  In those six years, she has delayed taking her orders because she feels she is missing something.  And then one night, a broken, bloody man comes to the abbey needing medical attention.

Lord Phillip is known as a Notorious Rake, a man who ruins women left and right, drinks himself to oblivion every night and gambles away every penny he finds.  With Angela as his nurse, however, he learns that arrogance and petulance are not the best way to handle his affairs.  There is a mutual attraction between them, but both their pasts get in the way.

As he tries to get better, both medically and personally, Angela finds herself feeling emotions and needs she thought had been destroyed.  And neither one realizes that there is challenge to their relationship in the form of a rival.