growing up in the heart of Cajun country, the only family Ruby Landry has ever known are her loving ghuardian Jack, a drunken outcast who lives alone in a shack in the swamp.

Living again in a humble shack, Ruby is determined to make a secure and happy home for her precious daughter, Pearl. At her side once more is Paul Tate, her first love, now a man of dazzling wealth. Whisked away to his grand house, it seems Ruby can forget the shocking reason she and Paul must wed in secret and remain husband and wife in name alone. But the grand walls of Cypress Woods cannot shut out the cold eyes of Paul’s mother. And when Ruby’s...

After being raped by the wealthy Octavious Tate, Gabriel becomes pregnant and spends months locked up in a tiny room at Tate's home while his wife pretends to be expecting in anticipation of claiming Gabriel's baby for her own. Having her child taken from her leaves Gabriel in a deep depression until she falls deeply in love with a man who may bring her even more grief.