title: Ransom of the Heart
author: Kingsley, Kate
description: Damsel In Distress
  
  Proud beauty Danielle Valmont's charmed life had become a hopeless tragedy. Her late brother's debts had left her penniless, homeless and forsaken by the New Orleans elite whose conventions she'd previously flouted. Still, Danielle was prepared to pick up the pieces--until that scoundrel De Leon came crashing back into her life, wreaking all manner of havoc.. . .
  
  Erstwhile pirate Arturo De Leon felt obligated to rescue Danielle from the danger she unwittingly faced--even if that meant kidnapping her aboard his brigantine. When the feisty Creole belle showed her gratitude by stabbing him, with a fruit knife, the privateer steeled himself for what promised to be a long--and intriguing--voyage.