You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Stephanie, who is searching for this historical:
The heroine is part of a group of ship wreckers in the Outer Banks. She is in her early teens, but “belongs” to the leader. She secretly hates him, but her mom wants her to be with him cause it is good for her (mom).
Someone survives from one of the ships and she falls in love with him and escapes the islands with him. Somehow somewhere on their travels they meet a sexy alpha whaler and he helps them with part of their journey. He secretly loves the heroine and thinks the survivor is not worthy of her huge spirit.
Years later she ends up with the whaler and worries about her sordid past coming out among his high-kick friends.
Well this is something.
Tides of Love, Patricia Matthews.
Tides of Love…wow. So many visuals, so many feelings about that title. Hmm.
Another vote for Tides of Love. Old Skool for the win.
I believe Tides of Love was the very first historical that I read.
I just love the term ‘sexy alpha whaler’. It’s so evocative.
I loved me some bitches! Tides of Luurrve! Yes! And the sexy alpha whaler has a really big—-
Slightly off topic since this has been identified, but there’s a Nora Roberts contemporary I think called the Reef that starts with a teenage heroine with her parents and there’s diving for ship wrecked treasure and because of a time skip there’s a friend’s to lovers to enemies and back to lovers plot. Reading the description of the HABO gave me serious vibes of The Reef.
The sexy alpha whaler has a really big . . . harpoon??
A big anchor?
A big ship???