After eight years in the British Navy, Will Slater returns to London to resume his life as the son of a marquess. He's determined to discover what's become of Lady Barbara. An earl's daughter, she pledged her love on their last night together and now seems to have disappeared from Society.

Will's bastard brother, Stephen, served with him on his last ship and is ready to attend every ball and soirée necessary to earn acceptance in the ton. As the Marquess of Devonville's son and a dead ringer for his brother, he finds it easier than he should to navigate the choppy waters of aristocratic Society. And why wouldn't he? All the young ladies think he's his brother, especially after Will requests that they trade places and then leaves London to search for Barbara!

Banished from her father's home seven years ago, Barbara lives in a ramshackle cottage in Oxfordshire. With little to eat, no prospects, and nothing in the way of income unless she takes up prostitution, her life has become bleak. Although there is one bright spot left in her life, that, too, will dim unless something - or someone - comes to save the day. The last person she expects to do just that is Will Slater. Having written him off when he didn't write to her during his years at sea, Barbara claims she no longer loves him. How can she when he abandoned her?

As Stephen dazzles the debutantes with his easy manners, good humor, and demonstrations of delectable kissing - all in his brother's name - how will he explain himself when one of those young ladies turns out to be one he wants? Trading places has everyone feeling as if they're just a bit lost at sea in The Caress of a Commander.