As Crown Prince, Johnathan leads a charmed life. At least that’s what everyone thinks.

But every time society praises him for no reason or women throw themselves at his feet, Johnathan feels more unequal to his station. When he learns that the King and Queen plan to force him to wed, the full weight of his situation crashes in on him and he does what he does best.

He runs away. Desperation finds him dodging the castle guards, cowering in strangers’ outbuildings, and praying he won’t be recognized.

For her part, Lucinda Williams has enough on her plate without a squatter on the property. After her father’s death, she and her siblings discovered that every penny had been frittered away.

Since that realization, every moment of her life has been focused on one thing: survival. But the man hiding under a dirty pile of straw, desperate to escape detection, claims her attention.

His humble plea to keep his secret tugs at her heart strings. Even with a bride-finding ball on the horizon and Lucinda’s financial troubles looming in the background, Johnathan and Lucinda are carried away with the first stirrings of new love.

They must decide if they have the courage to face their struggles together and step toward a brighter future or face reality apart. .