Destiny's Magic — Martha Hix

Burke O'Brien's orders to his crew were explicit: No females, young or old, were to board his Mississippi riverboat on his thirtieth birthday. Long ago, the brawny captain of the Yankee Princess had been cursed to meet his bride on that date, and he would do anything to break the hex. Then, just as the clock was about to chime midnight on that fateful day, a golden-haired enchantress stole her way onto O'Brien's vessel -- and into his heart...

Susan Seymour spent most of her life under the thumb of her tyrannical father. Now, she had a chance to escape his cruelty forver. Fleeing a carnival with a young child in tow, the beautiful snake charmer sought refuge on a New Orleans-bound vessel. How could she know that Burke O'Brien's own mysterious past was irrevocably bound to hers -- his very fate in her hands? Without her, he faced certain ruin. Without him, Susan could lose not only her chace for a new life, but the love the sensual captain was awakening in her heart....