She's a confident entrepeneur in a man's world, seeking to fulfill her calling. He's a rugged rancher who longs for peace from his tragic past. They're both about to find it all on a journey they make together.

It is a peaceful, almost idyllic existence. Scattered among the coastal towns and missions of Old California are only a few Americans and Europeans; among them, a hide and tallow exporter named Tipton and his beautiful red-headed daughter, Alena. To the native Spanish Californios she is their Red Dove. Their Americano princess. And every young bachelor wants her for his bride. But at her father's death the 19-year-old faces a dilemma: Duty is calling her home to Boston. Yet this untamed, romantic territory and its passionate people have captured her heart in a way that the East Coast never could. And if she stays, she can carry on her father's business.

When tragedy strikes while she is visiting San Juan, Alena must quickly return to Monterey to investigate. Her traveling companion is a hide rancher who's as rugged and remote as the California terrain--and haunted by a memory that pushes him to stay single in this land of lovers. What neither of them knows is that these next few days will not only shape her present, but heal his past--and start them both on a brand new journey.

This first book in the Old California series by Stephen Bly sets the stage for romance and adventure in the years before the Gold Rush.