The Exciseman and the Foundling

Cornwall, 1815. Foundling Avar Elfcup, apprentice to the Swain Cove wise woman, is collecting mushrooms in the forest when she stumbles on a scene of forbidden love. Aroused and warmed, she then encounters a newcomer, a hated exciseman, and surprises them both when she kisses him. Avar can’t have anything to do with an exciseman, even if his tall, muscular frame, storm-grey eyes and wild dark curls incite havoc with her senses. She is determined to succeed as a healer. She has everything she wants and needs.

Cornish-born Jowan Redwing is desperate for a promotion in the English Excise Service, so he can support his crippled sister. In competition with a favoured, snooty Englishman, he can’t afford to put a step wrong. But what’s a man to do when a delectable, teasing forest sprite steals his clothes while he is bathing in the fairy pool? When Swain Cove smugglers and villagers come into sharp conflict with the excise service, will Avar dare to love, and will Jowan choose the woman he adores and her village, or his career?