The Ashford Chronicles

The sea is Deirdre MacKenzie's home, and the crew of her father's Baltimore clipper is the only family she loves. She's happier wearing breeches and climbing the rigging of the Maid of Alexandria than donning a dress and learning to curtsy. But when the War of 1812 erupts, the ship is captured by a British privateer, leaving her father, the captain, dead. Deirdre watches her crew herded into the hold, destined for the notorious Dartmoor prison in England.

Lady Chloe Ashford detests going to balls, loathes social pretense, and finds the very idea of hunting for a husband obscene. But she has an even more scandalous secret: she once helped an American - the enemy - escape from Dartmoor Prison. Now it's three years later, and Ross Trenerry is back - and in trouble again. So is her traitorous heart. He doesn't know she's the one responsible for sending him to a second prison, and she has no intention of telling him.