In the New World of 1565, any tale of treasure might be true. For Juan Miguel Alvarez and the women in his life, those riches are not only gold, and those dangers not merely pirates, political rivals, and Indian warriors. The empire of New Spain is as vast and wildly beautiful as it is treacherous. In the midst of a brutal campaign against the French, Juan Miguel unexpectedly finds the love of a lifetime among his country's enemies. From tropical Caribbean islands to the coasts and hinterlands of present day Florida and the Carolinas, this book chronicles three generations' hopes and aspirations. Through war and peace, sinister intrigue and hurricanes, transcendent love and vengeance-driven hate, Juan Miguel, and later his son Angel, encounter women as remarkable as the stunning New World in which they all find themselves.