Joanna and Caleb are both hopeless romantics in the Civil War era. Seventeen-year-old Joanna is starry-eyed, in love with the idea of being in love, and does not want to wait to marry Caleb until she is eighteen, despite her parents' insistence...But so much can happen in a year. Twenty-year-old Caleb is taken in military heroism, especially in defense of anti-slavery. When his married brother's name comes up in the draft list, he volunteers to take his brother's place. But will his romance with Joanna survive the war?