This mystery/adventure, also a wholesome love-story for teens, unfolds in both Present-Day and Flashback modes. Teenager, Maria, emerging from a coma, struggles to remember her transatlantic cruise before the tragedy. In Flashback mode, the reader finds Maria cruising the Golden Moon with her aunt, the Chief Purser. Uncomfortable on the ocean, insecure amidst gifted musicians, Maria meets a handsome teen, Jeff (her first crush), and as they attempt to solve a shipboard mystery, her confidence grows. The reader is treated to an Italian cruise, beautiful ports-of-call and art works by the Masters. Romance is everywhere, but sly and dangerous characters abound. Maria anticipates her mother joining her and then visiting her grandfather’s Villa. Then tragedy strikes. In the Present-Day segments, recovering from her injuries on one of Rome’s seven hills, Maria gradually learns the fate of her friends.

April 1579. When two ships meet off the Pacific coast of New Spain, an enslaved woman seizes the chance to escape. But Maria has unwittingly joined Francis Drake's circumnavigation voyage as he sets sail on a secret detour into the far north. Sailing into the unknown on the Golden Hind, a lone woman among eighty men, Maria will be tested to the very limits of her endurance. It will take all her wits to survive - and courage to cut the ties that bind her to Drake to pursue her own journey. How far will Maria go to be truly free? Inspired by a true story, this is the tale of one woman's uncharted voyage to freedom.