Esmeralda Goodwin finds the company of dogs, horses and cats preferable to people. Especially the rugged man with a scar on his face and eyes as hard as flint. Esmeralda, known as Messy to her four older sisters, is staying with Nell in Dorset, hoping to overcome her infatuation with Peter Archer who has chosen a demure, compliant woman as his wife. When she finds a horse whose rider has left it alone on the edge of a windy cliff, she tumbles headlong into a world of smugglers, secret passages, and excise men.

Fletcher Howell, recently returned from the Caribbean to lead his family business, faces unforeseen obstacles that leave him no time to fall in love, even with a woman as alluring as Esmeralda Goodwin. But when a six-year-old runaway slave boy is found on one of his ships, Messy needs to decide if she can trust Fletcher Howell with her heart.

Publisher's Note: This historical romance contains graphic scenes and elements of power exchange. It is book five in the Wards of Lamercier series and can be read as a standalone but will be enjoyed if read in order.