There was a fierce war raging abroad, and another in her heart. While men are fighting overseas in World War I, lovely Laura Mitchell is caught up in the struggle for women’s rights in the Washington, D. C. of 1918. Dismayed by her willingness to go to jail for her beliefs, Laura’s mother and sister encourage her to pay more attention to her suitors. Laura only has eyes for her neighbor Joe Menotti, who treats her like a kid sister. But her brother’s friend, Shawn O’Brien, sweeps her off her feet with his Irish charm and dashing good looks. Yet everyone but Joe wants her to give up her ideals. Should she change herself, try to change the man she loves, or follow her conscience to the man who is waiting with open arms?

Is it the showboat magic that makes him love her? She’s a showboat star. Will she have to give it up for love? Sixteen-year-old Gabrielle Prentice is practicing a new tightrope act for her father’s showboat on the banks of the Mississippi River when she falls into the arms of a handsome young farmer - and in love. She soon finds that being in love with David Wesley isn’t easy. Mrs. Wesley, his mother, looks down on showboat people, and showboat people, especially the talented, aloof Stephen Dubois, do not think much of farmers. But Gabrielle is determined to pursue her dream of life on land. She convinces her father to let her accept the invitation grudgingly extended by Mrs. Wesley to spend a week on the family farm. Life on the farm is not what Gabrielle had imagined. David is different, too. Has Gabrielle been dreaming of the wrong love? And is she ready to face what she really wants?