Dragged along to California during the Gold Rush, shy and bookish Lucy intends to be miserable until she can return to her New England home, and writes yearning letters to those she left behind. In 1849, twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple, who renames herself Lucy, is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a rough California mining town.

"Her heart seeks safety. But will trouble find her even here? After her sister's marriage, Michelle Stiles is left hiding at Two Harts Ranch with the handsome but stubborn Zane Hart. She's managed to stay one step ahead of her stepfather and his devious plans, but if he finds her, she will no longer be safe.Zane has problems of his own. Having discovered a gold mine on his property, he must figure out how to harvest it without kicking off a gold rush....

"The Gold Rush is about to change lives forever. It's the booming California Gold Rush of 1849, and the toughest man in town is ready to face his truth. Truitt Emerson wants out. Enough fighting and terrorizing gold miners, he wants to leave Hangtown for good. But now, stranded with two young women from back East who his boss expects delivered to Hangtown, things just got worse. He'd like nothing more than to leave the thin, red-headed woman to the...