Irish rose Kerry O'Day is bravely coping with the death of her beloved mother and the shocking truth that the man who raised her is not her father. Desperate to escape an arranged marriage, she flees to North Carolina to find her real father - and is shattered to learn he was killed in the Civil War. All that remains is his rundown farm, but Kerry is determined to rebuild her life. Then handsome, mysterious Slade Dillon arrives, staking his claim on her land . . . and her heart.
Though Slade's right to the land is irrefutable, the two are ordered by a judge into a rebellious coexistence made all the more stormy by an undeniable attraction that turns day into a clash of wills - and night into sleepless hours of unfulfilled longing. But when Kerry hires freed slaves and incurs the wrath of local vigilantes, Slade fears for her safety. Now, an unfolding drama of secrets and danger draw him closer to the inescapable truth - and the knowledge that he will risk his heart and his life to claim a love as powerful as it is undeniable . . .
