Returning home, Confederate hero Colonel Graham Talbot faces his toughest battle yet–avoiding the marriage–minded young ladies in town vying for his attentions. With a stepmother and orphaned niece to support, the penniless soldier has no intention of marrying. Neither does the woman he once loved, his next–door neighbour Ellie Anderson. But Ellie has a proposal of her own: a pretend courtship to keep their unwanted admirers at bay.

Ellie's unpredictable childhood left her determined to safeguard her independence–and her plantation. Blaming herself for driving Graham away to war, she devises a plan to help them both. But when it goes awry, Ellie will face a choice: save her beloved property...or trust in a relationship that's becoming undeniably real.