Star-Crossed is a riveting and romantic seafaring adventure intended for teens but which kept me up reading way past my bedtime. Set in 1760, a time when a woman's future and fortune were tied to either her father or her husband, 17-year-old Patricia Kelly stows away on a British ship heading to the Barbados. Once there she plans to claim the plantation her father left her. She is soon discovered and taken to be trained by the ship's surgeon who says to her, "Come now, Miss Kelly, ye're not just a pretty winklot with batter for brains. Ye must put your mind to it. Apply yourself." And that she does. Bold and bright Patricia rises to the gritty demands of life at sea, disappointment in her dreams and the dilemma of choosing security over love.

A thoroughly enjoyable and captivating yarn! ~Anne