Judith and Jacqueline Malory are not simply cousins; they are inseparable best friends. Refusing to miss Jacqueline's come-out in Connecticut, Judy convinces her parents, James and Georgina, to let her delay her London debut by a few weeks so she can accompany her cousin. Neither girl intends to fall in love during her first Season. But Judy's plans are overturned when aboard ship she comes face-to-face with the ghost who has been haunting her dreams.

Unknown to the Malorys, deckhand Nathan Tremayne is a smuggler with a noose around his neck. Determined to carry out a covert mission in America that could gain him a pardon, Nathan senses that Judith is trouble. Somehow the minx knows his secret--and now she's blackmailing him into doing her bidding--teaching her how to climb the rigging and how to kiss. While passions can soar on the high seas, Nathan knows this aristocratic beauty is merely amusing herself with a scoundrel like him.

When the unthinkable happens in Connecticut and the elder Malorys' hands are tied, Nathan takes command of a dire situation. Captaining his own ship, he turns the tables on Judy and steers them into uncharted waters, where a lady might just throw caution to the wind and give her heart to a scoundrel.