Kissing the Captain
In 1879, near the small northern California town of Ridgeway, Lilly Warren is a young black woman who has recently lost her father. There is little time for mourning, though, as the responsibility of running the twenty-six acre farm now belongs to her. To make matters even more complex, her father has deeded the house and the land to her in his will with an interesting condition: that she share the land with a person she's never met, or forfeit ownership.
Ricardo Benigno is a Spanish captain of the Anna Juanita, a shipping vessel bringing spices and oils to the shores of California. Seeking out the farm of his old friend Leonard Warren, he discovers that the older man has passed away. To his surprise, Ricardo has also been willed joint ownership of Warren land, as long as he shares it with Lilly, Warren's only child.
The attraction between them is instant, and they both agree that marriage is the only acceptable way they can share the land. But can two people from such different worlds learn to love each other, or will Lilly's heart be broken if she dares to kiss the captain?
The Story Behind This Book
Back in 2010 I wrote a story to answer an anthology call at a well respected publisher. The didn't fit their expectations, so I rewrote it, expanded it, and it became Kissing the Captain. Some things about the story evolved and changed, but the hero has always been the dashing Spanish sea captain, and the heroine, always the feisty farmer's daughter.
