The Virgin Widow

May 1862.
The world has not been kind to Caterina Pennington.
Banished as a toddler to a remote convent in the Scottish Highlands to be raised by nuns, she is sold by her father at the tender age of thirteen to become the bride of a despicable man old enough to be her grandfather. An old man who is incapable of consummating the marriage.
After years of abuse, her husband dies. His son orchestrates her complete ruination by auctioning her off to the highest bidder at one of London’s most exclusive pleasure palaces.
Shipping magnate Raven Sinclair, the illegitimate son of the Marquess of Danbury, discovers a young girl about to be sold into sexual slavery and makes the winning bid. Without consulting her and to protect her, he decides to send her to a remote county where her late husband’s son will never find her.
Caterina has other plans. For the first time in her life, she has an opportunity to determine her own destiny. Upon learning that Raven Sinclair is sailing a new ship to America, she stows away on it.
Raven Sinclair is a wealthy trader, as well as a successful blockade runner whose ship brings in much needed supplies and weapons to the South. But the dashing blockade runner hides an even darker secret.
When that secret is discovered, it’s up to Caterina to save the only man she’s ever loved, the only man who has ever loved her in return.
Will they survive to build a future together? Or will their many enemies destroy them completely?