It is Fall 2008, the recession is in full swing and Kate Shaw is about to turn forty. As an acting beauty editor for a fashion magazine, Kate has glided from contract to contract only to be told that, due to cutbacks, her services are no longer required. Through no fault of her own she finds herself single, homeless and desperate to help her family survive its own financial and emotional crises. Known for her love of all things Jane Austen, Kate is given a freelance gig that changes everything: is it possible, in these modern times-and at a certain age-to marry well?

What starts as an article quickly turns into Kate''s real-life quest. From the polo fields of West Palm Beach to the slopes of St. Moritz and the glamour of London''s social scene, Kate, who gets mistaken for an aristocrat-Lady Kate-chases the man of her dreams, a charming and elegant older financier. But she keeps running into a brooding Englishman, Griffith Kent, who works at an impeccably Austenesque estate called Penwick Manor. Caught between Mr. Rich and maybe Mr. Right, Kate must choose what she really wants out of life: to marry for money or marry for love.