1898 Havana, Cuba – As America steps onto the world stage by declaring war against Spain, concert pianist and aspiring journalist, Lily O'Grady-Champagne, is determined to report the truth about the thousands of Cubans still suffering in the island's concentration camps. When her theatrical-promoter husband disappears, she must rely on her own wits, courage and talent, to survive a riot, an abduction—and a US government agent who thinks she's an accomplice to treason.

Still haunted by the death of his Sioux wife, former Army surgeon Dr. Colin Winfield is on a mission from Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, to find Victor Champagne, a bigamist, swindler and gun smuggler. But it's not that simple. Is Champagne's latest 'wife' his victim or his partner? One thing is certain, the beautiful crusading reporter doesn't know when to walk away from a story—or a war.

As the countdown to war begins, their lives will change forever.