Beyond the Last Longitude

Every official chart says the island exists. Verity Loxley can prove they are all wrong. A brilliant mathematical geographer and instrument designer, Verity trusts figures, evidence, and measurements that can be repeated. She has spent years watching men place their names on women's discoveries, and she refuses to let another falsehood become accepted history. Captain Ivar Sedgewick trusts what he saw with his own eyes. Years ago, Ivar's ship was wrecked while searching for the mysterious southern island. He saved most of his crew, but when later expeditions failed to find the land, his career was destroyed. Now Verity's calculations offer him one final chance to prove that he was neither dishonest nor deluded. Aboard the Asteria, the exacting geographer and the disgraced polar captain clash over every observation. Verity demands documented proof. Ivar relies on patterns learned through years at sea. Neither expects professional rivalry to become admiration—or admiration to become a dangerous attraction. Then sabotage strikes during a magnetic storm. Trapped among fog, unstable ice, and a volcanic shelf that seems to move across the ocean, Verity and Ivar must cross breaking ice, enter a half-submerged wreck, and survive a mutiny from within their own expedition. Buried in the frozen remains are journals capable of exposing decades of falsified discoveries, stolen inventions, and corrupted maps. Someone aboard the ship intends to ensure those records never reach England. To survive, Verity must recognize the evidence hidden inside Ivar's instincts. Ivar must learn that asking for proof is not the same as questioning his honor. Together, they may correct the map, restore the truth, and claim a future in which neither must surrender authority to stand beside the other. Beyond the Last Longitude is the third book in The Women of the Royal Atlas, a Victorian historical-romance adventure series about brilliant women whose work reshapes expeditions, institutions, and the public memory of discovery. It delivers a complete romantic resolution while advancing the series mystery.