Kindred (Benton)

North Carolina, 1793 Ian Cameron, a Boston cabinetmaker turned frontier trapper, has come to Mountain Laurel hoping to remake himself yet again-into his planter uncle's heir. No matter how uneasily the role of slave owner rests upon his shoulders. Then he meets Seona-beautiful, artistic, and enslaved to his kin. Seona has a secret: she's been drawing for years, ever since that day she picked up a broken slate to sketch a portrait. When Ian catches her at it, he offers her opportunity to let her talent flourish, still secretly, in his cabinetmaking shop. Taking a frightening leap of faith, Seona puts her trust in Ian. A trust that leads to a deeper, more complicated bond. As fascination with Seona turns to love, Ian can no longer be the man others have wished him to be. Though his own heart might prove just as untrustworthy in setting his course, he cannot simply walk away from those his kin enslaves. With more lives than his and Seona's in the balance, the path Ian chooses now will set the course for generations of Camerons to come. A story of choice and consequence, of bondage and freedom, of faith and family.

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 on the journey provides Ian the chance to obtain land near the frontier settlement of Shiloh, New York. Perhaps even the hope for a new life with those he still holds dear. In Boston, Seona has taken her first tentative steps as a free woman, while trying to banish Ian from her heart. The Cameron family thinks she and Gabriel should remain under their protection. Seona's mother, Lily, thinks it's time they strike out on their own. Then Ian arrives, offering a second chance Seona hadn't dared imagine. But, the wide-open frontier of Shiloh feels as boundless and terrifying as her newfound freedom-a place of new friends and new enemies, where deep bonds are renewed but old hurts stand ready to rear their heads. It will take every ounce of faith and courage Ian and Seona can muster to fight for their family and their future...together.