The Gray Divide — Denise Weimer

In the halycon days of the 1850s, Georgia's coastal elite find a retreat in the foothills of Habersham County, where half-Cherokee Mahala Franklin goes nose to nose with arrogant rival hotel owner Jack Randall. Well aware she's not of his class -- as her Cherokee friend Clay Fraser jealously reminds her -- Mahala can't ignore her attraction to Jack any better than she can the clues about her father's murder and the missing gold left to her in his strongbox. Especially when her unlikely friendship with socialite Carolyn Calhoun constantly thrusts her into Jack's circle!

Carolyn's life of privilege might seem a lark to Mahala, but Carolyn is expected to overcome her awkward personality and make a brilliant match by choosing between two very different men -- rice planter Devereaux Rousseau and his minister brother Dylan. Can she even be sure of the love of the one she chooses, or will she merely be a prize?

Hidden loyalties are exposed and relationships threatened as Georgia seeks to become its own republic, only to be plunged into civil war. Faced with taking over his family's shipping firm, Jack must choose between his Northern convictions and his Southern family, while Devereaux tests himself and his feelings for Carolyn on the battlefields of Virginia.