Lily Bushwold has had a tough life, most of which was spent being shuffled from one foster home to another. Wanting to break away from this life and start anew, she answers an ad for a teaching position in Cochabama, Bolivia. She doesn’t have any money, so she steals enough to pay for her plane ticket there. Upon her arrival, she discovers that the job is a scam. She manages to find food and lodging in a flea-ridden hostel, where she works for room and board.

While in Cochabama, Lily meets a man named Omar, who is several years older than her. The two fall in love, even though they are from entirely different cultures. He comes from the small village of Ayachero, on the edge of the Bolivian jungle, where life is much different than it is in urban Cochabama. Omar must embark on a journey back to Ayachero to deal with a family matter. Lily goes with him, even though she has been warned that life there is hard and the jungle is very dangerous.

"Ferencik’s writing style is fast-paced and suspenseful, making readers impatient to turn the page and find out what happens next."

The jungle is everything Lily expected it to be and so much more. It threatens her very existence and that of Omar and his village. Although he warns her never to go into the jungle by herself, Omar does his best to teach Lily survival techniques if she ever finds herself in trouble. Her strength and resistance are constantly being tested, forcing her to confront the possibility of having to survive on her own and making her wonder if she could pull it off.

Author Erica Ferencik brings readers a love story that is anything but ordinary. The main characters are literally worlds apart, and a danger-filled jungle is not your usual backdrop for romance. This is also a story of survival, not only for Lily, Omar and the villagers, but also for their way of life as it is threatened constantly from poachers killing off wild game and cutting down the jungles.

Ferencik’s writing style is fast-paced and suspenseful, making readers impatient to turn the page and find out what happens next. She herself spent some time in the Peruvian jungle where she did research for this book, and these experiences lend great authenticity to her narrative.