Sassi and the Captain—trying to come up with enough cash to pay off her dead father’s debt to a scumbag so she wouldn’t have to marry him, she signed up to cook for the Captain’s crew, even though she was a pastry chef and not a regular cook; she figured she could put together basic food for the crew. She falls in love with sailing, with the crew, and with her captain. And then once the voyage is over and she’s back on land with her brother and his girlfriend, she learns that the debt she was trying to cover was just a drop in the bucket. And then her captain learns about it. His solution is to keep her safely on board with her brother and his girlfriend while he goes about using his savings to pay off all the debts—to the tune of over $100,000. When they pay off the debt to the scumbag, the captain drops her off at their apartment and says she’s free. He’ll be back in four months to see how she’s feeling about him then. But the crew seeks her out and gives her the option of coming on board again, so she stows away for their first day out at sea until she reveals herself. The sparks will fly—they always have—between the captain and the cook, but there’s no doubt they’ll have their HEA. The narrative doesn’t always flow as smoothly as I’d like and normally I’d give it 4 stars, but there’s were passages so poignant that I teared up. That’s powerful writing. TW: violence.