Freedom asks much of her. Love asks everything. The last place Audra Bancroft wants to be is trapped in the glittering world of the elite — paraded as little more than a decoration on some gentleman's arm. She longs to be truly known and understood, but as the niece of a wealthy businessman, she is anything but. When her uncle announces her betrothal to a man she despises — a man whose power could ensure she never escapes the gilded cage — she makes the only choice her heart can bear: to disappear. Hiding her true identity, Audra takes a position on a family-run farm in another state, where faith runs deeper than blood and work is done with calloused hands. Though unaccustomed to the honest toil of the laboring class, she is determined to prove herself. Winning over the sharp-eyed eldest son, Tobias Haystead, is another matter entirely. He finds her suspicious, far too outspoken — and a threat to his family's carefully guarded secret. When Audra's past catches up to her, she tells a desperate lie to save herself — one that binds her fate to Tobias in a way neither of them saw coming.
