Samantha Barnes, daughter of a wealthy ship-builder from Nantucket, is ordered by her father to marry a business rival’s son to further his own interests. Samantha flees to her uncle’s house in a desperate attempt to keep her freedom and save the Barnes Shipyard from bankruptcy. At her uncle’s home she meets dashing whaling captain Darryl 'Dare' Starbuck, a wealthy man with excellent family connections and the Devil’s own luck on the high seas. The friendship which springs up between them soon grows to overwhelming attraction. Samantha risks all by disguising herself as a boy and shipping out with her cousin Roland as one of Dare’s crew in order to help restore her family’s fortunes. Only when she sails with Dare can she decide if he is just interested in her because of her social connections, or whether she can trust her life and love to him, her body and soul… Dare has never met a woman like Samantha Barnes, but what kind of life can he offer her when he is away at sea on his whaling ship for years at a time? Haunted by the shadow of his father death, he is driven to become the most famous whaling captain of his time. But when he discovers Samantha is on board, and has performed every duty more than ably, he grudgingly starts to admit that perhaps there is room for Samantha in his life—and his heart. But whaling on the high seas is perilous at the best of times. Their budding love is put to the test, with the most shocking consequences. Has Dare found his one true love, only to lose her to his fickle mistress, the raging sea?

Almira Hussey is a desperate young woman. Her father’s ship has been reported lost at sea, her mother is seriously ill, she has two younger sisters to take care of and her brother had just shipped out on a whaler she soon discovers is a hell ship. When her mother dies, Almira is determined to secure a better life for them all. A three-year stint at sea on a whaler will give her the money she needs to apprentice her sisters to a decent trade and support herself. With any luck, she might even be able to rescue her brother, and find news of her father's fate. Almira disguises herself as a man and throws herself upon the mercy of famous whaler captain Jared Starbuck, said to have the Devil’s own luck turning a profit. He agrees to sign on the puny lad as a cabin boy and pay the apprenticeship articles for her sisters as an advance on her wages. It seems a dream come true for Almira, especially when she begins to fall in love with her handsome captain... Working side by side at sea, Jared soon begins to wonder if there is more to ‘Al’ than meets the eye. Uncovering her disguise at last, there is no resisting the magnetic attraction between them. Jared doesn't believe the whaling life is the right one for the woman he loves but the sensual connection between them is as inexorable as the thundering tides. Yet with great love comes the potential for great loss. Jared and Almira must risk all to navigate the most perilous waters of the Atlantic and Pacific if she is ever to save her family. The notorious pirate Xavier Delgado sets his sights on stealing Jared's ship and its fortune in cargo. Almira risks everything for love in a winner-takes-all battle with Delgado to save them all from disaster and win the love of the man who has stolen her heart and makes her body sing with pleasure....