Miss Jess Whitby frantically seeks the identity of Cinq, a murder and traitor. The English government has imprisoned Jess' father accusing him of being the spy. Josiah Whitby has never been a friend to the English. He's a successful smuggler and runs a profitable trading and shipping enterprise, routinely out-foxing English law. Friends of the Whitbys have faded into the woodwork afraid of being drawn into the fray. It's left to Jess to prove her father's innocence. Luckily, Jess has had many identities in her short life and has numerous unsavory acquaintances she can call upon. Not yet wanting to bargain with them, Jess devises a plan to expose the man she believes is the Cinq, Captain Sebastian Kennett.

Singing off-key and strolling down the lane after a merry celebration with his mates, Captain Sebastian Kennett is amused when a beautiful young woman throws herself in his arms playing damsel in distress while she picks his pockets. As the bastard son of an earl, Sebastian spent his childhood among criminals learning their way. He was rescued from that life by the earl's sister, a reformer, who found him along the muddy banks of the Thames surviving as a thief. She raised and educated Sebastian, but he never forgot what he did to live on those cold London streets. When the ruse goes wrong with his pickpocket, Sebastian returns her to his ship to recover.

Sebastian recoils when he learns she's Josiah's daughter. Sebastian had gathered evidence against her father, who he blamed for sabotaging one of his ships. As they play cat- and-mouse, neither can ignore the sparks that fly between them. Jess plays a dangerous game in order to save her father and not lose her heart to the man who will see him hang.

In her second book, Ms. Bourne proves to be an excellent storyteller. Her portrayal of the characters' angst and conflicting emotions as they face danger and betrayals from old friends and unidentified spies will leave readers mesmerized in this page-turning romance. Nothing is as it seems, especially Jess. She's one of the most complex and interesting heroine I've seen in a long time.