Book excerpt: Chris McKenna gladly escaped the crowds of Yosemite to work as the new Search and Rescue in tiny Sierra City, nestled just west of Lake Tahoe. A loner by nature, she didn’t mind the seclusion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Jessie Stone, a successful but reclusive writer, is haunted by memories of her childhood and finally returns to Sierra City after sixteen years to confront her past. Can the odd assortment of residents of this small mountain town bring the two of them together? Or will it be Annie Stone, a woman Chris has grown to admire and a woman Jessie still feels hatred for, that has the power to bind the two. Through lies and deception, Chris and Jessie each struggle to deny the growing attraction that could brighten both their lives . . .