Five years ago, Dorothea Ashford learned the hardest lesson of her life: love cannot save a woman who has no power over her own fate.

Once a sheltered young lady promised to Captain James Rothwell, Dorothea believed marriage would finally free her from her cruel and controlling father. But when her father forces James into an impossible choice, their engagement collapses, leaving Dorothea alone to face the life she had hoped to escape.

She refuses to wait for another man to rescue her.

Five years later, Dorothea has transformed herself into something entirely different. On the rugged Cornish coast, she has built a secret sanctuary for women fleeing abusive husbands, violent homes, and lives controlled by powerful men. She has learned to fight, to protect, and to make her own decisions. Her sanctuary is more than a refuge. It is a place where women who have been broken by society can begin to rebuild their lives.

Then a half-drowned Frenchwoman washes ashore carrying a terrifying secret.

Marie claims that a powerful man known as "the Serpent" is trafficking women aboard his ships, murdering anyone who threatens to expose him, and using his wealth and influence to keep the authorities under his control. Before Dorothea can uncover the truth, she discovers that the sanctuary itself is in danger. Her brother has sold the abbey to a wealthy shipping lord named Cyril Blackwood, and the connection is far too troubling to ignore.

Then Captain James Rothwell arrives.

The man Dorothea once loved is now a naval officer investigating smuggling along the Cornish coast. Their reunion forces old wounds back into the open. James still loves her, but Dorothea refuses to become dependent on him again. She has spent five years learning that protection is not the same as freedom, and this time she will not surrender control of her life.

As danger closes in, Dorothea and James must put aside five years of heartbreak and learn to trust each other again. Together with the women of the sanctuary and the Royal Navy, they face a ruthless enemy who believes money, power, and social position place him beyond the reach of justice.

But stopping the Serpent will require more than courage.

It will require Dorothea to risk everything she has built.

**The Cornish Avenger** is a gripping Regency romance filled with second chances, forbidden secrets, danger, resilience, and a love tested by betrayal. For readers who enjoy strong heroines, wounded heroes, historical intrigue, and romances where love must be earned all over again, Dorothea and James's story offers a passionate journey from heartbreak to trust, with a heroine who refuses to be anyone's possession.