Once a Scoundrel - Mary Jo Putney

An outcast on the high seas.

A woman who defies convention.

Gabriel Hawkins was born to command the sea, until he left the Royal Navy in disgrace and was disowned by his family. Now captaining his own ship, earning his living through dubious means, he is the best choice to ransom an aristocratic beauty captured by Barbary pirates.

Facing the prospect of a life as a harem slave, Lady Aurora Lawrence is beyond horrified. Her only hope of escape lies in a quiet, steely captain who ignites an attraction in her that burns hot within the close confines of his ship.

But even if they endure the perils of the waves, can their love survive a return to England, where the distance between a disgraced captain and an earl’s daughter is wider than the ocean?