Cobbs's (Broken Promises) second novel is a fictionalized biography that will appeal to both biography fans and general fiction readers. Cobbs's tale of Alexander Hamilton's life concentrates mostly on his wooing of future wife Elizabeth Schuyler. But it's when he is contemplating the future of a newly independent nation and questioning the morality of mankind that the story feels most alive. Beginning in 1768 and ending in 1854, the novel alternates...

December 1795. A year has passed since Ian Cameron reluctantly sent his uncle's former slave Seona and their son, Gabriel, north to his kin in Boston. Determined to fully release them, Ian strives to make a life at Mountain Laurel, his inherited plantation, along with Judith, the wife he's vowed to love and cherish. But when tragedy leaves him alone with his daughter, Mandy, and his three remaining slaves, he decides to return north. An act of kindness...

1785, New York. As a young nation begins to take shape, Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler are keeping New York City buzzing with tales of their lavish parties, of Eliza's legendary wit, and of Alex's brilliant legal mind. When they agree to take in an orphaned teenage girl along with Eliza's oldest brother, John Schuyler, Eliza must keep herself from interfering too much in the course of true love. After all, she and Alex have an arrival of...