Back in London, Viola, a photo-journalist, harbors love for them both. The year is 1910, and two Antarctic explorers, Watts and Heywoud, are racing to the South Pole. Can Mazy claim the independence she so desperately wants and save her knight, and possibly her love, in the process? When he returns, however, the King wants to recognize his service through marriage to a wealthy and titled widow, but Mazy begins to suspect that more than a marriage might be afoot and treachery lurks in the shadows, so she embarks on a journey to warn her friend and perhaps secure her own fairy-tale ending. But Mazy doesn’t need saving – in fact, her skills with a bow and knife rival that of the best knight, so when Sir Berenger is called off to war, he makes plans to distinguish himself in battle. While there, she kindles and unexpected friendship with Sir Berenger of Dericott, a dashing and noble man with dreams to rescue a damsel in distress.

Having spent most of her life behind the relative safety of her castle walls, Mazy is itching to go beyond and travel to far off lands with her father, but when he dies unexpectedly and her oldest brother abandons her, Mazy must travel to her other brother’s estate for aid. Inspired by a shocking travesty of justice, the repercussions of which still reverberate more than fifty years later, bestselling Franco-Mauritian author Caroline Laurent paints a shimmering portrait of island life, a sensual paradise lost, and a gorgeous star-crossed love against all odds. The Mauritian government is negotiating independence from Britain, and this deal with the devil will mean evacuating the Chagos, without warning or mercy―a betrayal that will put their love to the test. As these two lovers from neighboring islands welcome a new son, Joséphin, a bright future seems possible. Her fierce independence and love for her home are quickly apparent to Gabriel, the handsome and sophisticated Mauritian secretary to the archipelago’s administrator it’s love at first sight. It’s 1967 in the Chagos archipelago―a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean―and life is peaceful and easy for hardworking Marie.

An epic love story set against a backdrop of injustice, devastating secrets, and the painful price of independence.

In Hot Pursuit by Kate McMurray