The Smuggler's Compass

She guards secrets older than kings. He hunts the truth that could destroy them both.

On the storm-lashed coast of 1760s Dorset, Jenny Tremain appears to be what society expects: a quiet lighthouse keeper's daughter, mending nets and tending lamps. But by night, she is the Compass-guiding smuggling runs to feed her starving village, all while guarding a far more dangerous cargo: the sacred relics of Bronze Age sanctuaries hidden in sea caves and barrows.

When Captain Rhys Carver, a disgraced naval officer turned revenue man, arrives asking about "antiquities," Jenny assumes he's just another thief in a magistrate's coat. But Rhys isn't hunting brandy-he's searching for his missing sister, last seen investigating the same ancient sites now being looted by a powerful collector known only as the Curator.

Forced into an uneasy alliance, Jenny and Rhys must race across Dorset's chalk downs-from the smugglers' coves of West Bay to the whispering chambers beneath Moonfleet Manor-to stop a man who will burn villages to possess history itself. But as tides turn and trust deepens, Jenny faces an impossible choice: protect the relics... or save the man who's taught her that some truths are worth sharing.

From Seraphina Sinclair, bestselling author of The Vixen's Ledger, comes a richly atmospheric, emotionally gripping historical romance steeped in authentic 18th-century detail, slow-burn tension, and a heroine who redefines courage on her own terms. Perfect for fans of Outlander, The Gown, and The Ashford Affair.

Seraphina Sinclair writes bold, intoxicating historical fiction where danger and desire walk hand-in-hand. Her critically acclaimed Phantom Chronicles series plunges readers into the gin-soaked shadows of 18th-century Europe, where master thief and folk legend Kit Valentine outwits empires with nothing but a razor wit, a stolen unicorn talisman, and a black silk ribbon hiding secrets even her lovers dare not touch.
A former stage actress turned clandestine storyteller, Seraphina draws on history's forgotten rebels to craft tales of fierce women who rewrite their fate-one heist, one kiss, one betrayal at a time. Her books blend meticulously researched period detail with open-door romance, slow-burn tension, and the kind of loyalty that survives hangings, drownings, and heartbreak.