Western romance set immediately after the Civil War with Charlotte Chadwick, disguised as a boy, on the run for her life and Colton McCloud undercover for the U.S. government. They meet on the trail, and their lives intertwine throughout the story from then on. Charlotte has a temper and Colton fondly, and sometimes not so fondly, calls her 'Spitfire' once he discovers she is not a boy he's taken under his wing.