At her mother's death, Dayra Smith fled the Empire and her powerful, sadistic step-father, driven by her dream of building a new life for herself and her half-brother and sister on the raw frontier world of Far Star. Clawing a living from the land isn't easy, but Dayra is determined to make a success of the run-down farmhold, and she doesn't need any man's help to do it—until it becomes clear that her step-father hasn't forgotten her, or forgiven, and that he will stop at nothing to reclaim what is his.

Coll Larren thought he'd pretty much hit bottom—until he jumped ship on Far Star and discovered just how far down, down could be. Once, he'd dreamed of freedom from the Empire's oppressive rule, fought for it, almost died for it, but dreams can die as surely as the men who fight for them, and what does a man do when there are no dreams left? Now he's broke, beaten, and determined to never again get sucked into a hopeless fight. That is, until he comes to the rescue of a golden-haired beauty with powerful enemies who doesn't know the meaning of the word quit.