Joan Johnston transports us to rugged present-day Texasa place of wide-open prairies and unbridled ambitionswhere two ranching families, the Blackthornes and the Creeds, are locked in a bitter century-old feud. Here, Johnston brings to life a breathtaking love storybetween the Blackthornes' oldest son and the Creeds' beautiful daughtera magnificent novel of passion, vengeance, and star-crossed love.Trace Blackthorne was taught from the cradle to take what he wanted. And he wanted Callie Creed. Eleven years ago, the feud between their families had torn them apart. But now Trace has come home, a ruthless hard-eyed stranger, making her an offer she couldn't refuse: marry him and save her struggling family from financial ruin. But the secrets of the past return to haunt them. And Callie is once again compelled to make an impossible choicebetween the family who desperately needs her and the only man she has ever loved.From the Paperback edition.