Prudence Shackleford had not expected to be a spinster at three and twenty, but unfortunately, as she’d quickly discovered, very few men were prepared to tolerate either her ghoulish sense of humour, or her macabre taste in literature. And those were the ones she’d got as far as holding a conversation with. When invited to London by the Duke and Duchess of Blackmore to witness the Coronation of King George IV, she was equal parts horrified and intrigued. Especially after a chance meeting with a Bow Street Runner on the trail of conspirators it was feared were planning to murder the King. Jamie Fitzroy had been a Bow Street Runner for five years. In that time he’d risen swiftly up the ranks, gaining a reputation for both ruthlessness and guile. Such were his successes in ridding London's streets of thieves and murderers, his name had become almost legendary. But in the wake of the Cato Street Conspiracy, he was now on the trail of a gang intending to assassinate the King during his own Coronation. And with less than two weeks to go, and a London packed to bursting, the stakes had never been higher. The last thing he had time for was a russet haired chit who was too ripe and ready by half – even if she did haunt his dreams every night…