Two women-one free, one a slave-trapped by loss and lies, longing for lasting love and the freedom to follow their dreams... Two brothers working side by side on The Oak Plantation, but vastly divided in issues of the heart... Five families intertwined by the tides of change sweeping their world as the Civil War approaches... When Camellia York, the overseer's daughter, accidentally causes the death of the plantation's owner-the father of the man she plans to marry-she must lie to protect herself and the slave woman involved. Pressured by her father to wed the wealthy heir in order to advance his own ambitions, Camellia is haunted by her tragic secret. Ruby, a slave on The Oak, longs for freedom from her chains so she can be reunited with the man she loves and the mysterious son she had to leave behind. She's privy to a dark secret-but will she use it to buy her freedom? And can Camellia risk telling Josh Cain, her father's half-brother, what really happened in the cookhouse?