LaRisa Chee was torn from her father's side when their people, the freedom-loving Chiricahua Apaches, were imprisoned in Florida. She, along with all the other children, was sent to a white man's school in Pennsylvania, while her father and everyone she had ever known remained behind and battled disease, unsanitary conditions, starvation. Even after The People were moved to Alabama, they continued to die by the dozens. LaRisa's hatred of whites grew and grew. Then one day, a white man came for her, saying her beloved father, whom she had not seen in eight years, was dying and he was asking for her. Did she dare trust this man? He was white, and white men lied. Yet, what choice did she have?
But the school will not let her leave. She's an Apache. She can't just walk away from the school run by the U.S. Army. LaRisa takes her only chance and agrees to marry Dr. Spencer Colton so she can leave Carlisle Indian School. The sparks they strike off each other ignite a hot desire between them. Things are further complicated when they reach Alabama and her dying father makes her promise to stay married to Spence and return to Arizona with him, to never live as a prisoner of war, like the rest of their tribe. To ease her father's mind, LaRisa and Spence both agree, thinking that once in Arizona, they can each go their separate ways. But their passion for one another makes that impossible. All LaRisa wants is a wide open land where she can stand beside a true warrior and let her heart sing. Not until it's almost too late does she understand that Spence is a warrior. He is her warrior. And he makes her heart sing.
