This classic romantic novel about a woman and a land that can never be tamed is Dorothy Eden at her spellbinding best
Poor, orphaned Briar Johnson serves as maid to two gently reared young women on their voyage from London to New Zealand, a land their aunt in Wellington has assured them is teeming with potential husbands. Desperate for a home of her own, Briar disguises herself in one of her mistress's gowns and slips into the governor's masked ball, hoping to snare a certain tenderhearted gentleman. Instead, her plan goes terribly awry and she attracts the attention of commanding Saul Whitmore. And he wants her to be his wife.
For five years, Saul has called New Zealand his home. And something in the primitive frontier calls to Briar. Together they travel to Taranaki, a remote town in the heart of hostile Maori territory. Here, among strangers, warriors, and savages, Briar learns the true meaning of courage. And against all odds, she begins to lose her heart to this wild, beautiful country-and the husband she never expected to love.

Dorothy Eden (1912-1982) was the internationally acclaimed author of more than forty bestselling Gothic, romantic suspense, and historical novels. Born in New Zealand, where she attended school and worked as a legal secretary, she moved to London in 1954 and continued to write prolifically. Eden's novels are known for their suspenseful, spellbinding plots, finely drawn characters, authentic historical detail, and often a hint of spookiness.