Thunder #1 Ryan Mallory had risen from the ashes of personal tragedy with a fierce passion for life. In the Colorado hideout of her Rebel brother, she won the hearts of every soldier with her gentle ways and giving nature. But her greatest challenge came from Ben Morgan, a bitter, lonely Union colonel haunted by scorned love and hardened by years of war and isolation.

As the South crumbled around them, Ryan fought her own battles as she struggled to teach both her brother and and the taciturn Morgan to trust ... and forgive.