Set against well-known historical events, this new Young Adult romance series centers on a hope chest that passes through the lives of various young women who respond to the challenges of their day. Sixteen-year-old Katherine rescues a handsome young stranger who is fleeing from the loyalists, and soon finds out her own father is secretly involved in American Patriot activities. Disguising herself as a boy, she sets out to help the cause of freedom and finds adventure and love along the way.

Charlotte is sent to live with her aunt in Baltimore to escape the threat of Indian attacks in the Indiana Territory. She finds herself surrounded by both enemies and patriots and doesn't know who to trust. There is a traitor among those she knows, and when she is kidnapped, she discovers the truth, and finds her destiny with her heroic rescuer.

When Stephanie learns her father has sent the man she loves to California in order to separate them, she stows away on a clipper ship and goes after him. After an exciting and almost fatal sea voyage she arrives in California to find the adventure and love of her life.

Timid and afraid, Carrie wishes she had the courage of earlier generations of brave and independent women in her family. When she's trapped in the middle of Chicago's raging fires, she finds the courage to save herself and others, and the passion to find the love she thought she had lost.