Leah Johnson, a stubborn spitfire with the temper of a volcano, is more than ready to take over her father’s ranch. Men who think they can take advantage of her because she is a woman, learn quickly what a mistake it is to underestimate her. She is fierce but has a heart of gold. When her father is taken from her during a stagecoach accident, her entire world collapses. Leah still has her mother, but Patricia Johnson is shy, insecure, and fragile – the opposite of her feisty daughter. When her mother’s father and brother think they can just take over the ranch and pressure her for money, she is ready to fight.

After being kidnapped and gone for several weeks, the men in her life are not willing to step back and let the determined young woman end up in even more danger. Together with the ranch’s foreman Cash, her godfather forces her to go with him to Sacramento and away from the ranch. She doesn’t last long in the big city. Her heart bleeds for home, and she can’t stand not knowing what her relatives are doing to her beloved ranch. After convincing her godfather that she needs to return and can’t hide forever, she goes back disguised to get hired as a cowboy. Pretending to be a man isn’t as easy as it sounds and Leah gets into trouble when one of the new cowboys finds her sneaking around and discovers that she isn’t as manly as she tries to appear. Not knowing whom she can trust and who is hired by her uncle, Leah unearths secrets she never expected.

After losing her mother at the tender age of five, all Rose wanted was the love of her father, not his money or the prominence in society that came with his name. But instead of reaching out and giving her the love and affection she so desperately needed, her father drowned his grief in his work, leaving Rose to the care of his servants and staff.

Rose grows into a beautiful and feisty yet serious young woman, but no matter how hard she tries to ignore the emptiness in her heart, it remains. Then, at her father’s untimely death, Rose is sent from the only home she has ever known in Boston to live with her uncle and his family, who she hasn’t seen in over twelve years.

Terrified of the reception she’ll receive, Rose makes the journey alone and quickly realizes that her late father’s wealth has made her a target for not just journalists with an eye toward revenge but dowry hunters everywhere.

Will her relatives in Colorado take her in with open arms, or was this arrangement forced on them and would turn into another disappointment? Is Rose’s future already sealed by a parade of lies or is there hope for a happy ending and the healing of her orphaned heart?