

Betrayed by her husband and falsely accused of theft, Elise Sloane has nowhere left to turn. At her lowest point, Harold Cole appears. He has loved her quietly for ten years, and now he offers her shelter in the form of a contract marriage. Elise refuses to let that define her. Starting from nothing as a counter salesgirl, she rides the electric tide of Creston City's special economic era, fighting her way up until she owns a garment factory of her own. She builds the business, earns the love, and becomes the woman she never once let herself imagine.

Orphaned and utterly alone, Frank Judson has lived undercover for years on end. To perfect his alias, he's mingled in every entertainment den in the city, only to be busted, again and again, by Lila Tynan, his high school desk mate turned police detective. A reunion, but not the kind he'd imagined. Then comes the order from Captain Sam Lunn: infiltrate the inner circle of Bernice Ruth, the shadow queen of Yorick's underworld.Starting from the foot spa SpaVille,Frank begins to peel back layer after layer of deception. Yet when the fog clears, she realizes, deep down, he's still the same boy she once knew.