Prickly and difficult, spinster schoolmarm Minerva Krenshaw hides behind her shabby dresses and sad bonnet. She’s used to being invisible—until Miss Ebony White catches her eye.

Abigail Whithall escaped an abusive apprenticeship and is saving all her money from working at the Jeweled Ladies for her own dress shop. But more than the latest styles, she needs respectability—and to learn how to read. She offers to sew new clothes for the most respectable Minerva in exchange for reading lessons. But their lessons go far beyond letters. Will Minerva give in to the passion Ebony promises—or will she go back on her word?