The Merchant and the Rogue

London, 1865. Vera Sorokina reads Penny Dreadfuls for the adventure and the mystery, while her own days go to running a book and print shop with her father. The income lets her hire and shelter poor Londoners she cares about, and it gives her father an occupation besides missing St. Petersburg. She is secure, and she is lonely.

Brogan Donnelly grew up in Ireland and has spent several years in London, writing Penny Dreadfuls for a living. With his sister, he works on behalf of the city's poor, and his place in the secretive Dread Penny Society keeps his life from feeling wasted. Even so, London has never felt like home to him.

When Brogan and Vera meet, the attraction is instant and unwise. Vera has learned from experience that writers cannot be trusted. Brogan has his own reasons to suspect that something at her print shop is not legitimate.

Then a criminal enterprise run by the violent, elusive Mastiff moves into their part of London. To protect the neighbourhood they both love, the two must work together, which means trusting each other with dangerous secrets carried over from Russia and Ireland. It is a historical romance with a mystery thread running through it.