Poppa's Progeny — Alta Hensley

At the age of eighteen, all women who cannot afford a dowry for marriage must be placed in a facility in the hopes of being adopted by an affluent husband.

To maintain order, all women go through a mental reassignment reverting their minds to six- year-old girls -- progenies. By keeping the women innocent in all ways before marriage, they can later function as a wife and mother more efficiently. The progenies are sheltered, nurtured, babied, and even disciplined by their assigned poppas. The progenies have no baggage, no hardship, no broken hearts. There are no dark secrets in their lives, no torrid affairs, and no pain. Their husband is buying the purest gem there is. He adopts for marriage so his wife is flawless. Life has not chipped away at her.

But what happens when the mental reassignment doesn't work? This is what happens to Juniper Ambrose... she's not truly the little girl she should be. She has no choice but to play the twisted game of pretend, hoping no one, especially her poppa, finds out. Secrets, lies, pretending -- this is the world the progeny, and her poppa, have been thrown into.