Ready to escape the bustling city life in Sacramento, California, Dr. Bob Bannard travels with his family to view some acreage for sale, over the Sierra Nevadas on the east side of Lake Tahoe. Wandering about to amuse themselves while their parents talk with the realtor, the three teens happen upon a castle hidden in one of the many castle-like rock formations in the area southwest of Virginia City. Although the concealed drawbridge is up, they have hopes of getting inside IF they can convince their father to buy the property. The solitude of the hilltop location and the distance from...

1870 Sacramento, California The storyline breaks away from traditional format, thus being broken into five parts. Nearly 150 years ago, in the wild west where women could own businesses and vote, Sacramentans braved mosquitos and disease, devastating floods and fires, crime, and rapid change. From the Gold Rush and the Pony Express to the Transcontinental Railroad, the community grew and changed. The strong survived, the weak either left or perished. This is a tale of an orphan named MaryJo finding her way in the Mother Lode area, in the shadow of Sutter's Fort. Villainous manipulations...

FAIR PLAY, TEXAS, 1872 Young Jeremy lost his heart to Diana, but now having come of age and being of means to provide for a family on his horse ranch, he pursues winning Diana's heart. Ten years his senior and considered on the shelf, though flattered by Jeremy's attentions and persistence, Diana has resigned herself to spinsterhood. Burdened with childhood traumas and her self-proven feelings of inadequacy, does Jeremy have a smidgeon of a chance? Can he break down her barriers regarding the age difference?

Drawn together by an inexplicable magnetic attraction, Jack and Beth are thrown together by happenstance and are so drawn to each other that they feel as one. Two Philadelphia couples, while their firstborn children were toddlers, made a pact for their families to be joined together by the marriage. The Madisons had moved to Denver with their small daughter. The distance keeps the families from seeing each other for over fifteen years. Upon reaching marriageable ages, both Jon Junior and Elizabeth resisted meeting and marrying as designed. When Jack and Beth meet in Denver, being pulled to...