That's how they see me--all they'll ever see when they look at me. But I am more, so much more. We can't change the past, the hand we've been dealt, But we can play that hand and win in the end. And that's what I plan to do--what I've always planned to do. Then he came into my life. Jaxon Prescott. He's everything I want, But nothing I'm permitted to have. He's too good, too perfect, For someone like me. After all, I'm just a maid, To them. They don't know the real me, My dreams, my fears, my past, My secrets. Jax A rich playboy.... That's how they see me--all they'll ever see when they look at me. They've got it all wrong, So wrong. I've been living a lie, a fabrication of what they want, And I thought it was what I wanted. Then she came into my life. Ava Williams. She reminded me of what I want, What I need, And who I really am. She's everything, But nothing I'm supposed to have. She's not right, not polished enough For someone like me. After all, I'm high class society--better than everyone else, To them. They don't know the real me, My dreams, my fears, my past, My secrets.

    Cox weaves the exciting, authentic tale of Harry Nelson-Heron, a young midshipman in the British Navy in the early 1800s. Born in 1789 during the Irish Rebellion, Harry must overcome the prejudice against the Irish and the usual hazards of an active and inquisitive youth to realise his dream of becoming an officer in Britain’s Royal Navy. When he and his childhood friend Ferghal make the treacherous journey to London to be commissioned to a ship, fate smiles on them. Harry is appointed a midshipman on the HMS Bellerophon, and Ferghal joins him as a seaman. Corsairs, diplomacy, and exploration challenge their skills as the seafaring life takes Harry and Ferghal across the seas to worlds they never imagined and engages their ship in sea fights with the French during the Napoleonic Wars.