Teasing the female passengers about the perils of the open sea was great fun, but once Horatio Merivale opened his mouth to laugh at danger, he wished he’d kept it shut. A storm dragged the Coventry under, and it was all the East India Company officer could do to rescue a terrified blonde from the merchantman’s foundering hulk. Still, the girl brought out the best in him, and the whole escapade seemed the start of a marvelous adventure.

Though she was but a simple lady’s maid, the recurring dream luring Anne Hazlett from England was grand — a turquoise seascape with a jade-carved island whose beaches beckoned. Yet she hadn’t expected to arrive on flotsam, be accosted by pirates, or have such an odd entourage. Indeed, the man who’d saved her was thrilled by their bad luck! “The Hand of Destiny” he called it. And looking into her eyes, the grinning Horatio made a promise: The current that swept them forward was irrestible, but he would see Anne to… The Wildest Shore.