Francisco Garcia sailed from Spain to the Caribbean looking for a place to set up as a doctor and live in peace away from his overbearing father, who disapproves of his career in medicine and pressures him to marry. Ending up in jail after a tavern brawl was not part of the plan. When Francisco is asked to tend to a badly beaten fellow prisoner, however, his life turns about onto an even more unexpected tack: James Thomas is a pirate captain. Francisco’s orders are to fix him up just so he can hang, an unbearable thought to a doctor who does everything he can to keep people alive. But what else can he do?

A daring rescue attempt leads Francisco to a crossroads: If he throws in his lot with a pirate, he may never find the peaceful life he sought. But aboard James’s ship he has a chance at a kind of freedom and love he never dared hope for.