Randy Ellis

Nia was born into chains, taught that freedom was something she would never live long enough to touch. Takoda was born to the wilderness, carrying the grief of a stolen past and hunted for helping others escape bondage. When their paths cross on a Louisiana plantation during the height of slavery, two wounded souls find something they never expected: each other. But in a world built on hatred, their love becomes dangerous. Pursued through forests, rivers, and hostile towns, Nia and Takoda risk everything for a chance at freedom and a future together.
As violence closes in around them, they must decide whether love is worth the cost of survival. Where the Cottonwoods Wept is a powerful historical romance about grief, sacrifice, hope, and the kind of love that refuses to die, even in the cruelest of times.