Born and raised on an isolated Appalachian mountain, sixteen-year-old Marli Meade yearns to break free from her father’s tyranny and her oppressive home life. She’s tired of the rules, tired of being watched like a hawk, and most of all, she’s tired of not having a life, but she fears she’ll never be able to escape.

When she meets local boy Nate Porter, though, all that changes. Suddenly, life is sweeter: how he makes her feel, his smile, and the life she’s imagined seems possible.

As her two worlds collide, exposing buried secrets more sinister than she ever imagined and unknown facts about her mother’s death, Marli must make a choice: find the courage to fight for her life and the future she wants, or give in and let her family run her life forever.