A woman's cherished legacy becomes a pirate's obsessive quest in this spellbinding historical romance from award-winning author Meagan McKinney

The London docks in 1818 are no place for a woman. But Aurora Dayne is about to embark on a new life. With her modest belongings and a unique bejeweled locket—her sole legacy from her dead father—she boards a ship bound for Jamaica.

All hell breaks loose when pirates storm the gangplank, and the sheltered orphan becomes the prisoner of a ruthless privateer named Vashon. The towering, black-caped stranger arouses Aurora's fear . . . and her irresistible desire.

Haunted by his past, Vashon lives outside the law and is driven by one purpose: to retrieve the Star of Aran, a fabled gem cursed by its own dark history. Beautiful Aurora is the key to Vashon's quest. But when obsession flames into passion, he will risk everything to protect her—for there are others who would kill to possess the star.