Paxton and the Freebooters

Book excerpt: On a lonely Caribbean island, a teenage girl begins the adventure of a lifetime Raised on the tiny isle of Mysteré, Marie Ravenne has spent her youth swimming in crystal-blue water, eating fresh fish, and listening to stories of the days when her home was a haven for pirates. In her seventeenth year, that all comes to an end. The Spanish sack Mysteré, slaughtering Marie’s family and burning their crops. She and the other survivors are cast out in a rickety boat to take their chances on the high seas. For her companions, it is the end, but for Marie, the adventure is just beginning. Rescued by an English lord, she is taken to London, where she tries to make sense of a country whose customs are entirely foreign to her. Here she meets Jason Paxton, a daring rake who will lead her back to the ocean, to take her place upon the waves.