“Alexandra’s mine and mine alone!…no one will thwart my wedding…The underlying menace in Bartholomew’s tone sent chills slithering down Alexandra’s spine.” I was hooked from this point on and had to know about this unwanted wedding, about this evil-sounding man.

Alexandra Whittaker isn’t who she thought she was. The news comes out of the blue and changes her world and her life. Fleeing from the horrors she overheard, her life becomes even more complicated when she is rescued while fleeing by a dashing Sea Captain.

Derek Tremaine has felt guilt for years after losing a small girl left in his care. He has never stopped searching for her. While searching in Philadelphia for more possible answers, he saves an unconscious woman in the river. Her resemblance to the mother of the missing girl startles him even as he is drawn to her, and he helps her hunt for answers to her life. The journey they go on together isn’t easy, nor is getting along. But they grow together and their romance grows steadily as well.

The characters are very well developed, the backgrounds complex, the obstacles and conflicts enough to pull the reader through the story. Overall, this was an excellent read.