Alayan

Seventeen-year-old Emma doesn't know who she is or where she came from. The not-exactly-legal merchant ship she was raised on is the only home she's ever known, and she's had enough of the captain's lies. Her plans to break free from her three-masted prison are thrown off course by a deadly mutiny, and she finds herself on the run with a target on her back. A charming naval officer becomes her unlikely companion, and though they're constantly running from danger, Emma is even more afraid of the feelings she's developing for a man she'll likely never see again-if she can ever make it home. Maggie's only friend in the world is the kitchen boy who works in her manor. When Maggie's mother dies, she's left to be raised by a controlling father whose only concern is marrying her off to the highest bidder. But when Maggie returns from finishing school, she finds that the kitchen boy isn't a boy anymore, and he's starting to feel like much more than just a childhood best friend. How can she choose a husband from the upper crust of society when her heart lies with the boy downstairs? When Emma's and Maggie's fates collide, the secrets from the past begin to unravel. But when danger finds them, will they regret pulling the thread?

It has been two months since Emma wielded a sword on the deck of the Lady's Mercy alongside the golden-haired Hemmish naval officer with copper eyes. Two months of pins in her hair and napkins in her lap and trying with everything in her to be the person she was born to be, the Charlie Ache never leaving her chest. Circles are appearing everywhere, often accompanied by murders. A house party turns deadly, but not before someone appears who she never expected to see again. Only . . . he might not be who she thought he was. Lady Olenn is trying everything she can think of to make Emma feel at home, but danger seems to have followed her there. Keeping Emma safe while protecting her own heart from the pirate captain who abandoned and then betrayed her might be her undoing. Captain Marchand is doing all in his power to track down the elusive Alayan, but first he has to make sure the girl he raised is safe. Which means facing the only woman he's ever loved, who is destined to hate him forever. When the threat to the entire Alayan coast becomes personal, each of them must decide who they can trust and which battles they're willing to fight. And hope they all survive in the end.