Mary Ellen Jenkins is a woman of rare courage and experience. One of only four females licensed as navigators and steamboat masters on the Western Rivers, she is accustomed to finding her way through dense fog on the Mississippi. But when she travels north for the first time in her twenty-nine years, she discovers herself unprepared for the havoc caused by a vaporous shroud off Sleeping Bear point. And navigating the misty shoals of her own uncertain future poses an even greater threat to her peace of mind. Self-confident, skilled, and devoted to his duties as Second Mate aboard the Lake Michigan sidewheeler, Lily Belle, Thad Grant regrets his promise to play escort to the petticoat navigator the instant he lays eyes on her plain face. Then his career runs aground. Can he trust this woman to guide him to safe harbor, or will the Lady Reb ever be able to overcome the great gulf between them?