Oklahoma Territory, 1868. The wild child of a Cherokee mother and white father, Taylor Christie James escapes from prison hours before hanging for a murder she didn't commit. Now a wanted criminal in the Cherokee nation, she heeds her mother's desperate plea to go to St. Louis-to her father-and learn the truth about her past.

Proud and defiant in buckskins and a holster, Taylor rides her painted warhorse to the doorsteps of her father's elegant mansion. Here she is confronted by Grey Talbott, a man who knows this beautiful half-breed daughter of one of St. Louis' most prominent citizens has unwittingly brought danger to them all.

Secrets have conspired to shape Taylor's life, secrets born of unrequited love, scandal, dark mystery, and murder. As she surrenders to the passion Grey awakens in her turbulent heart, she must face the danger closing in. For only then will she find the gift of healing, if she dares to risk all for the family, the heritage, and the man she loves.