At the old age of 24, Frederica Merriville has no plans on marriage of her own, and is instead keen to see her younger sister Charis matched with a husband worthy of her beauty. She enlists the help of a distant cousin, Alverstoke, to hold a ball to debut Charis into London society.
Alverstoke is a lazy and never one to help out anyone, let alone a bunch of distant cousins. But somehow he finds himself involved in the Merrivilles' lives, even taking on a fatherly (or big brother) role to Frederica's younger brothers, Felix and Jessamy. The romance itself wasn't bad, but the relationships Alverstoke builds, especially with the brothers, was the most heartwarming part of the story to me.