Widower Simon Driscoll lost his only son and daughter-in-law in a cholera epidemic. He receives a letter as next of kin granting him custody of his three grandchildren, who are in an orphanage. In order to take custody, he has to show up with a wife and the documentation proving the marriage is legal. He has 90 days before he loses his grandchildren, and a month has already passed. Desperate men take desperate measures.

Reputation tarnished and professional career compromised, Tessa Morris wants to start a new life?somewhere, anywhere, as long as that place is far away from here. The problem is, where? Other than attending a university, she's never lived anywhere else. At 42, her future seems grim at best. When she happens upon a recent edition of the Matrimony Courier, she finds herself intrigued by one of the advertisements for a wife. That she doesn't meet any of the qualifications doesn't bother her in the least, because desperate women take desperate measures.