The Valley of Glass Orchids - The Women of the Royal Atlas, #2

She found the valley no man believed existed. Now she must prevent an empire from claiming it.

Botanist Jessamy Tregarth has spent years watching lesser men dismiss her conclusions and publish discoveries built upon women's invisible work. When she proves that botanical specimens supposedly collected hundreds of miles apart came from the same isolated ecosystem, she uncovers evidence of an impossible place: a fertile valley concealed beyond the western Sahara.

The Crown Meridian Society quickly organizes an expedition—and refuses to allow a woman to join it.

Taking her invalid brother's identity papers, Jessamy becomes the reserved botanical collector Mr. Tregarth. Her disguise survives every inspection except that of Dr. Keir Whitcombe, the expedition's formidable physician. Keir recognizes her almost immediately. He considers her deception reckless, but exposing her would place both her work and her freedom in greater danger.

As the expedition travels from Tangier into the desert, altered route markers, a violent sandstorm, a midnight stampede, and a trail of coded botanical plates reveal that someone is determined to prevent Jessamy from reaching the valley. Forced to depend upon one another, Jessamy and Keir discover an attraction as dangerous as the country ahead—and a partnership neither expected to need.

Beyond an ancient underground waterway lies a volcanic sanctuary filled with translucent orchids and guarded medical knowledge. The expedition's wealthy sponsor does not intend merely to study it. He plans to seize an orchid capable of producing deathlike paralysis, monopolize its use as a surgical drug, and destroy the community that controls it.

To save the valley, Jessamy must abandon the safety of her false name and claim her authority before the men prepared to erase it. Keir must decide whether protecting her means commanding her choices—or standing beside her when she makes them.

A sweeping Victorian adventure romance of hidden identities, dangerous medicine, scientific rivalry, desert survival, and a woman determined to place her own name upon her work.