Alton Wheeler, a drifter and gambler, a giant of a man, is as tough and unyielding as the 19th-century Illinois wilderness. But one gentle woman's determined faith changes everything. From Alton's first tumultuous meeting with Sue Ellen Stone, he is unable to forget the serene woman who has branded his reckless life with her love.

On the day Alton and Susan are wed, they step into a future fraught with danger and uncertainty. Life on the frontier is harsh, and sometimes death comes too easily. When tragedy occurs, Alton must search for love anew and fulfill a sacred deathbed promise.

When Lizzie pledged her wedding vows to Jeremiah, she meant them with all her heart. But never did she dream that the day would come when she'd be a wife in name only. Lizzie must face the choice of finding happiness at the risk of destroying her faith.

Lizzie has in Brad Matthews a most trusted friend, one who loves her enough not to ask from her more than she can give. He is as grateful for her influence over his daughters as he she is appreciative of the guidance he offers her growing sons. But the idyllic atmosphere is shattered as the people of the community face death, drought, destruction, an epidemic, and the arrival of cunning and immoral desperadoes.

A pioneer woman's Christian faith sustains her as she adjusts to her marriage and to leaving Illinois to settle in Minnesota