Through the rolling grasslands of Kansas runs the Smoky Hill River, a rich source of opportunity for those bold enough to risk the dream-killing territory. For Gabe, mountain-man and scout, the river means freedom and a chance to map unexplored territory with the Great Pathfinder, John Charles Fremont. For Lem, an Illinois farm boy in pursuit of gold, it is a cruel foe who robs him of his family and his youth. For Jesse, a young Union corporal, this is the country that took his father and uncle and where he must fight warring Indians.

When young Bendigo Shafter and a ragtag bunch of travelers settle in the rugged Wyoming mountains, they quickly come to depend on a toughness and wisdom many of them never knew they possessed. Led by the beautiful and resourceful widow Ruth Macken, the settlers battle harsh winters, renegade opportunists, and the destructive lure of gold. Through these brutally demanding experiences, young Bendigo is forged into a man.

He left the West at the age of seventeen, leaving behind a rootless past and a bloody trail of violence. In the East he became one of the wealthiest financiers in America—and one of the most feared and hated. Now, suffering from incurable cancer, he has come back to New Mexico to die alone. But when an all-out range war erupts, Flint chooses to help Nancy Kerrigan, a local rancher. A cold-eyed speculator is setting up the land swindle of a lifetime, and Buckdun, a notorious assassin, is there to back his play.

Nina Sheridan thought she'd found the perfect man who would become the perfect husband. She was wrong. When Nina realizes the man she planned to grow old with doesn't know her at all, it's time to rethink her idea of perfect. And what better place to get her life in order than a remote Colorado mountain town halfway around the world? Gnaw Bone, Colorado, may not be flashy or cosmopolitan, but it's got a brand of hospitality all its own.

When small-town Nebraska sheriff Hixon Drake meets Greta Dare, the connection couldn't be stronger, but the timing couldn't be worse. Dealing with the fallout of a divorce he never wanted and setting up a new home for his kids, Hix becomes that guy, that one he never wanted to be, and puts a stop to things before they can even start. Protecting his kids and himself is his only priority. Greta, on the other hand, has found the place for her and the brother she adores that's perfect for them - a sleepy little town in Nebraska.