By 1815, Lady Eleanor Brooke's greatest regret is not marrying Arran MacLean when he proposed to her four years ago. Now, with her father in Newgate Prison, and a scandal hanging over her head, she escapes England and travels across the world to try to find the one man she's ever loved.
Arran has buried himself in work, trying to forget his worst mistake, asking Lady Eleanor Brooke to marry him. As he tries to build the Red River Colony near Lake Winnipeg, disease, hunger, and the North West Company relentlessly fight against him and the colonists. But no matter how hard he tries, the memory of Eleanor's rejection is his harshest adversary.
When Eleanor unexpectedly arrives at the edge of the Canadian wilderness with an orphaned baby in her arms, Arran's only goal is to get them safely back to England in the spring. But as the endless winter snow forces them together, they can no longer outrun their past. And when the spring dawns, they must decide if they have what it takes to fight for a future neither dared to dream.