British Occupied Manhattan, 1777 .  With her witty comedies, American actress Jennifer Leighton has been packing the John Street Theater, but she longs to escape the provincial circuit for the glamour of the London stage. When the playwright General John Burgoyne visits the city, fresh from a recent success in the capitol, she seizes the opportunity to court his patronage.  But her plan is foiled by British intelligence officer Severin Devere.  Severin’s mission is to keep the pleasure-loving general focused on the war effort…and away from pretty young actresses. But the tables are turned when Severin himself can’t resist Jennifer Leighton… Months later, Jenny has abandoned her dreams of stage glory and begun writing seditious plays for the Rebels under the pen name “Cornelia,” ridiculing “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne and his army—and undermining the crown’s campaign to take Albany. By the time Severin meets up with Jenny once again, she is on a British hanging list, and Severin is ordered to find her—and deliver her to certain death. Soon, the two are launched on a desperate journey through the wilderness, toward a future shaped by the revolution—and their passion for each other… READERS GUIDE INCLUDED Praise for Mistress Firebrand   “Held me spellbound…I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it!”—Mary Balogh, New York Time s bestselling author of Beyond the Sunrise and Longing “Thorland’s most amusing, clever, adventurous and thought-provoking novel yet…Vivid descriptions, fascinating historical events and dynamic characters alongside a powerful love story.”— RT Book Reviews , 4 ½ Stars "Donna Thorland is an author I adore, and I loved Mistress Firebrand every bit as much as her first two books, The Turncoat and The Rebel Pirate …Stunning, sensual stories you cannot put down."—Jennifer McQuiston, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of What Happens in Scotland Praise for The Rebel Pirate   “Fast-paced, soundly researched historical intrigue…a compelling read.”— New York Times bestselling author Madeline Hunter   “A richly romantic adventure that’s hard to put down.”— New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley Graduating from Yale with a degree in Classics and Art History,  Donna Thorland  managed architecture and interpretation at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, for several years. She then earned an MFA in film production from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. She has been a Disney/ABC Television Writing Fellow and a WGA Writer’s Access Project Honoree, has written for the TV shows  Cupid  and  Tron: Uprising , and is a writer on the WGN drama  Salem . The director of several award-winning short films, her most recent project aired on WNET Channel 13. Her fiction has appeared in  Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.  She is the author of the Renegades of the American Revolution series, including  The Turncoat ,  The Rebel Pirate ,  Mistress Firebrand , and  The Dutch Girl . For Ellen, whose story sense is invaluable One Manhattan Island December 1775     John Burgoyne was in New York. Jenny overheard the wine merchant telling the tavern keeper in hushed tones. She knew better than to look up when she felt their eyes on her. Two years in a city buffeted by mob violence and political intrigue had honed her instinct for self-preservation. She kept her head down and studied her mother’s letter from home. Seated beside one of the tall windows in the elegant taproom at the Fraunces Tavern, with its lofty ceilings and fine painted paneling, she nursed her single cup of chocolate and tried to concentrate on the words on the page, but her mind kept returning to Burgoyne. For the wine seller and the publican, Burgoyne’s presence meant a business opportunity, and one that must be kept secret from the Liberty Boys, who had abducted a loyalist judge, an Anglican clergyman, and a British physician from their homes only the week before. Politics, the two merchants agreed, were terrible for trade. They were also murder on the Muses. Isaac Sears and his rabble had stormed the theater, broken all the benches in the pit, and would have beaten the players as well if the company had been performing. Congress had closed all the other theaters in the colonies. Only New York’s John Street remained open, performing without a license, and at the mercy of the Rebel mob, which saw it as a British institution and an instrument of tyranny. There was no future for a playwright in North America. Jenny’s mother tried to tell her as much in her weekly reports from New Brunswick. The newsy letters arrived every Tuesday like clockwork, carried by the dishearteningly efficient Rebel post, threaded with the subtle message that, in such trying times, Jenny would be wise to come home. But even her mother could not claim that New Brunswick was untouched by the current troubles. It had taken eight men a whole day, she wrote, to raise the new church bell