Sea of Love — Mary Minton

Gabrielle is the first member of her family to defy their tyrannical grandmother -- and live. Notorious for her ruthless cruelty, Hesther Quantock is universally loathed and feared, particularly by other seamen who run the shipping lines between England and the Continent. Too many vessels have sunk and too many lives been lost for her involvement to be anything other than cold, calculated murder for profit.

Luke Calthan is one such captain. Resolved to destroy this hated figure and avenge his many losses at sea, he has hardened his heart against women in general, believing them all to be fundamentally untrustworthy, devious and evil. That is, until he encounters Gabrielle, stowed away on his ship in a desperate quest to find her missing father -- the only man who has ever truly loved her and who is now also at the mercy of her vicious grandmother. Proudly defiant in the face of Luke's wrath, Gabrielle arouses an unwelcome passion in him that he finds difficult to ignore. But can their undeniable attraction survive the bitter history of her name...?