England, 1820. To gain a certain marquess's notice, Lady Albina Beauchamp aims to win the derby. What she hadn't planned for is the price that handsome Edmund White asks in payment to train her to race: each lesson for a kiss.

A first place finish isn't the only thing worth racing for. Lady Albina Beauchamp is in love with the Marquess of Satterfield. Unfortunately, his only interest is in horses and doesn't know she exists. But when the marquess confesses he will bestow his undying admiration on the jockey racing the winning horse at Emberton Derby, Albina sets out to win his affections by training to race.

Mr. Edmund White is a master groomsman for the Earl of Amhurst in line for a viscountcy, should he abandon his passion for horses and become a respectable sheep owner. But horses are his love-until he meets Lady Albina and her silly notions of racing. When she affirms that she will enter the derby with or without his assistance, Edmund not only instructs his student in racing but in seduction as well.

For Albina, a first place finish isn't the only thing at stake. She must decide whether to take her place in society-or follow her heart and love a groom.