As a devotee of classic novels, Mary Porter-Malcolm is a walking encyclopedia of Mistakes That Have Been Made, especially by her favorite literary heroines. So when some new friends seem in danger of falling for the same tricks employed since the days of Austen and Tolstoy, Mary starts compiling the Scoundrel Survival Guide, using archetypes of literature's debonair bad boys to spot red flags in the dating department. But despite her best efforts, she soon finds herself falling for a supposed cad—the same one she warned her friends away from. Without a convenient rain-swept moor to flee to, Mary is forced to admit that real life doesn't follow the same rules as fiction and if she wants a happy ending, she's going to have to ditch the books and write it herself.