Cirrus@Austlit

'Desperate times call for desperate measures!

'To avenge his brother’s death, marine spy Captain Sir Francis Ryeburne, has been given a mission to hunt down and kill the notorious French Fox. Ryeburne’s determined to stop the menace who has been capturing British ships, plundering them for treasure and kidnapping the men. Only, he doesn’t count on an unexpected companion.

'Ladies companion Lucinda Challington learns she’s been left a fortune. But as a condition of the will, she must seek her betrothed’s permission to access her personal money. The only problem is, he captained a brig to Africa a year ago.

'Furthermore, when a returned sailor swears her betrothed already has a wife, she’s shocked and bewildered. Desperate to find out the truth, and to claim the authorization, she stows away on a frigate bound for the colonies. But her growing attraction for the captain threatens to complicate everything...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'He’s ruthlessly experienced. She’s a novice — in over her head.

'Adeline Perran doesn’t want to be a traditional woman. Knitting or sewing? No thank you. She’d rather row her dinghy and have adventures beyond her Cornish village. So when a ship flounders off the coast one night, she seizes her chance and goes smuggling … only she doesn’t count on getting arrested and becoming a spy to gain her pardon.

'Richard Clendon, code-name Finch, is the most experienced agent at the network. He’s tasked with training Adeline but when they’re given a dangerous mission across Napoleon’s war-torn France after only three weeks, she’s hardly ready. Frankly, he’s not sure she’ll survive.

'They travel as husband and wife but they’re discovered, and as they flee merciless militia, Adeline must use her ingenuity to keep them alive. But being a pretend wife often leads to wanting the real thing and soon she faces the greatest danger of all — the love that flares between her and Finch —unbidden and totally impossible …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.