On board the convict ship taking them to the penal colony of Australia, Maryanne Watson and Jake Smith meet and fall in love, but Jake hides a terrible secret that will take him to the gallows if it ever comes out. On arrival in Sydney the lovers are separated. Maryanne is sent to work for the lecherous Captain Fitzhugh. After he attacks her she flees into the wilderness and eventually meets up with Jake who has escaped from a chain gang. They set up home in a hidden valley and Maryanne falls pregnant. Will Jake come out of hiding to protect his fledgling family? And how can love triumph over such crushing odds? (Previously published as Savage Utopia)

Georgina, a wild colonial girl, is brought up by O'Rourke, a rough and ready Irishman, who she believes is her uncle. While helping the bushranger Johnny Dawson escape from prison, she meets and falls in love with a dashing young English aristocrat, The Honourable Marcus Lindquist. When Johnny Dawson is ambushed and killed, Marcus finally learns the secret of what has bound him to Georgina. Johnny is her brother, not her lover as he had jealously supposed, but even darker secrets from the past overshadow their love. How can an English aristocrat marry the daughter of convicts? Meanwhile, twelve thousand miles across the sea, Marcus' Godfather is plotting Georgina's death, to keep his dark secrets from ever seeing the light of day.