Coming from Medallion Press in March, 2oo9: the award-winning debut novel, "Fire at Midnight."
Smugglers, pirates, ship wreckers and other assorted villains inhabit the southern coast of England in 1703. Rachael Penrose believes escaping the horrors of the notorious insane asylum “Bedlam” and rescuing her infant brother from the uncle who plans to poison him are the most daunting challenges she faces. But then, Rachael hasn’t met French smuggler Sebastién Falconer yet.
Cultures clash and passions collide when a stunning deathbed confession by his mother sends Evan Dark –the heir to a sprawling South Carolina plantation—to England in search of information about the father he never knew.
Despite his newly discovered Gypsy heritage, Evan remains a Southern gentleman who cannot resist coming to the aid of a spirited young Gypsy woman when she is accosted by rough men in an English tavern.Jade of the Lowara tribe, the ungrateful recipient of Evan's assistance, has fled her campsite after learning she is betrothed to a brutal clansman.Evan's assistance is unwanted by Jade, who is distrustful of strange men, particularly take-charge, handsome ones who treat her like the lady she has always yearned to be.
Evan's decision to return the beautiful, rebellious Jade to the safety of her family is not without consequences.Jade's father, seeingan opportunity to bring wealth to his clan through marriage, pegs Evan as Jade's reluctant bridegroom.Coerced into marrying Jade, Evan secretly intends to abandon his Gypsy bride and return to South Carolina, where his own fiancée awaits him.Jade, however, has other plans for the handsome young Gorgio who has touched her heart and fired her blood with a desire only he can satisfy.
Evan soon finds himself on a ship bound for South Carolina with Jade by his side.He struggles against his growing affection for his fiery, exoticbride, unaware that back home his unfaithful fiancée and half brother are plotting to challenge his status as heir and rob him of the life he always assumed to be his birthright.When loyalties divide and fortunes are at risk, will Jade's love be enough?
