Judith & Jacqueline "Jack" Malory are cousins closer than sisters. Their fathers, James and Anthony, are two of the four Malory brothers with rather shady pasts. The families are aristocrats and envied for their successful shipping company in London. While visiting family in Hampshire four years prior, the girls investigated a suspicious light in an abandoned house, finding a resident ghost. In later years, Judy still considered herself in love with the ghost. She also returned years later to the darkened house and received a surprised kiss from a vagrant staying at the house.

Jack has agreed to a coming out ball in America to satisfy Jack's American uncles as long as Judy can accompany her. Leaving with a full crew on James's luxurious ship, Judy's secret "ghost" is hired on as a carpenter. Nathan Tremayne has a quest to find the scoundrel that murdered his father and stole his own ship while saving himself from the gallows.

Unable to keep from giving the feisty Judy another kiss, his ghostly secret is revealed. Judy is head over heels in love and allows herself to be bedded, which only makes her more determined to win her "ghost" upon realizing they are one and the same.

The unthinkable happens and the Malory men are indebted to Nathan when Jack is later kidnapped and held in order to draw James out. This is a redeeming voyage for Nathan in winning the beauty he has tried so hard to deny.

Johanna Lindsey continues to astound me with her extreme vision in creating a fast paced and thrilling tale that is always laced with intense sexual heat and charisma. STORMY PERSUASION is a book filled with spirited, stubborn women and rakehell men, and is sure to capture the reader. Johanna Lindsey is one of my favorites and never disappoints.