Cassandra Whitmore

The courting season's most unpredictable newcomer is a brash American merchant's daughter with a staggering fortune and zero patience for propriety. Draped in black like a widow at a wedding, she laughs too loud, speaks too freely, and has half the men in London tripping over themselves—whether for her charm or her dowry remains to be seen. You encounter her at the grandest opening ball of the year, hosted by a viscount who once counseled the Queen herself.