BOOK #1

James Jones recalls little of his past, only remembering being taken as a young boy and growing up on the Seven Seas. Rising from cabin boy to captain of a ship, a chance encounter with a drunken stranger leads James back to his family, where he discovers he is the heir to the dying Duke of Seaton.

Sophie Grant, daughter of a viscount, never made her come-out, thanks to her father's bad investments, which were paid off by Josiah Grant, owner of one of the leading shipping lines in Great Britain. As part of the arrangement, the shy Sophie is given to Josiah in marriage. Her new, much older husband helps Sophie to gain confidence in herself by teaching her all about how to run his shipping empire.

James, a former captain for one of Grant's vessels, encounters the now-widowed Sophie and feels a connection with the efficient, intelligent woman. Rebelling against his new role as a leading member of the ton, he despises Polite Society and its expectation that he wed some titled gentleman's bird-witted daughter-because James is increasingly drawn to the gossiped-about, independent Sophie Grant.