She'd had the hard talk with her family. They'd been shocked. Appalled even, at what her lifelong friend had been capable of.

Then she met James Baldwin-serendipitously-and the monster from her past seemed a distant memory.

Until he forced himself back into her life, her personal space, then exploded with rage.

Would he succeed in his plot to control her, take her by force, go so far as to kill her new boyfriend?

James had spent a lifetime protecting his heart from romantic entanglements-until he saw her, heard her speak, and looked into those impossibly green eyes.

But a relationship with Annie Jo Parker could cost much more than the loss of his heart to a beautiful champion barrel racer. It could cost him everything.

In the throes of a harsh winter, Annie Jo Parker and James Baldwin brave the elements, the danger, and the threats, for a chance to simply embrace the joys of falling in love.

Not too much to ask... Or so you'd think.