Doing what she thought was right to help the man she thought she loved, Jacquelin Frost is persuaded to steal from the wrong family...the St. Johns. After being caught by her target, she is placed on a prisoner transport from England to Australia. During the voyage, she comes to hate the man who convinced her to ruin her life by stealing for him. A last-minute order changes the original route, and the ship is diverted to the Caribbean, where they are attacked by pirates led by none other than Jacquelin's former lover. Desperate to get away from him, she agrees to be sold as a bonded servant to a Caribbean sugar plantation. The heat is unbearable and so is the man who purchased her papers; however, a handsome red-haired carpenter makes even the most intolerable circumstances tolerable. When Owen St. John is summoned by his eldest brother to New Providence to repair one of the family's ships, he takes lodging with an old friend who owns a sugar plantation. Owen soon finds that his friend's spirited mahogany-haired servant can be very entertaining, and he finds himself drawn to her. Yet Jackie's past is haunting and soon catches up to them. Can her caring nature and intelligence persuade Owen of her innocence, or will her complicated past ruin the love that has blossomed between them?