More than anything, David Gonzales wants peace. He has existed in a state of war his entire life, fighting for his very existence against a man who holds the town of Santa Christa and the Spanish Hill neighborhood hostage. In Spanish Hill, old grudges die hard-if they die at all-and the feud raging between Harrison Byers and the Gonzales family has been without hope of ever ending.
It started with Miguel, David's father, more than twenty-five years ago. David, the oldest son, didn't know why Byers hated them, but he grew up hating the man who had squeezed the heart out of Spanish Hill. Now, it is his job to exact justice for his people, an eye for an eye. A little hope has come into his life, and he will let nothing steal it away. Libby McCulloch, a charming newcomer, is a ray of joy for David, but he has no idea how this growing love will soon turn his life inside out. Unknowingly, he has broken Byers's cardinal rule: Mexicans are not to mix with whites.
Now enraged even more, Byers escalates his vengeance. David is caught in the middle of this new firestorm as he struggles to save his family, his neighborhood, and the forbidden love of his life.