Cordia Pike's resolve is tested when duty clashes with desire. Her family has chosen Jaris Adams, her childhood companion, as her future husband—a union she dreads. As the nation fractures into war, Cordia clings to hope that the conflict will grant her an escape from this unwanted fate without destroying a cherished friendship. When Will Tucker arrives on the eve of battle, everything changes. The Union soldier captivates her with an intensity that thrills and unsettles her in equal measure. Using his sister's welfare as cover, Cordia begins a clandestine correspondence with him, daring to imagine that his affection might deepen into the passionate love she feels growing in her own heart. War ravages Southwest Missouri with brutality and moral ambiguity. As the fighting consumes the land and the men who fight it, tragedy strikes: one of Cordia's suitors falls. Her family moves swiftly to bind her to the surviving man—a heartless traitor she despises. Now Cordia faces an impossible choice: summon the courage to defy convention and fight for her own happiness, as so many brave souls have fought for their convictions, or surrender to obedience and a lifetime of loveless captivity.