In the smoke and mud of a Union encampment, final year of the Civil War, Captain Samuel Thorne is ordered to do the impossible. He must rally his men to vote for abolition. He’s polished, New England born, and used to command. His speeches land with a thud.
Then he meets Eliza Carter. A freedwoman with a steady gaze and a sharper mind. She listens once, then takes the pen. Her words cut clean, aimed at the meaning of freedom itself.
They begin in secret ink-stained fingers, folded pages passed at dusk. Collaboration turns intimate. Letters carry arguments meant to sway ballots, and confessions meant for no one else. Every exchange breaks laws of race, rank, and wartime order. Outside the tent, boots splash through mud. Inside, everything changes.
Battles close in. Spies linger. A single mistake could mean exposure, disgrace, worse. With soldiers’ votes poised to shape the 13th Amendment, Samuel and Eliza balance the future on fragile paper.
How much can they sacrifice for a promise written under fire?
***
Each book in the Hearts of Power series uncovers a secret romance hidden within the pulse of American history where passion and politics intertwine, and every kiss risks rewriting the nation’s story.
Power has always been the most seductive kind of hunger the kind that burns hotter in private than under the spotlight. Across history, love and ambition have met in secret rooms and war rooms alike. From the White House to the battlefield, from whispered promises to dangerous alliances, the fiercest hearts are those that crave both a nation’s glory and the one person they were never meant to have.
