St Petersburg. Summer 1788. The beautiful and decadent Russian capital is in a state of turmoil because the Empress Catherine, well-known for her lascivious appetite, is on the look-out for a new lover. And her entire court is indulging in the tantalising quest to find someone suitably young, handsome and virile.

Nadya, newly arrived in the city on a quest of her own, soon finds herself drawn headlong into a web of intrigue and lust because, it seems, she has just found the perfect man: a gorgeous Swedish seafarer called Axel. Nadya wants him for a lover but so, too, does everyone else. Things are further complicated by escalating hostilities between Russia and Sweden and it isn't long before treachery and sedition add to the sexual tensions and intrigues already rife at the imperial court.