Book excerpt: Will they be able to escape with their lives...and their hearts? Firelight Ridge has always felt like another world to Doctor Ani Devi—but now things are getting even stranger. Military members have suddenly appeared in town and she was just questioned about a man she treated at the airport. Sure, she’d rather nurse the emotional wounds that sent her fleeing to the remote Alaska outpost, but she can’t abandon her job, and the strange events are a worthy distraction. Though she never imagined her search for answers would land her on the doorstep of a wildly attractive stranger. Gil McGowan is a born protector, so when his friend Victor begs him for help right before he disappears, Gil is determined to find out what’s going on. Maybe it would be easier without a beautiful woman along, but he promised Victor he’d protect Ani—from what, he wouldn’t say. Gil is sure Victor’s being paranoid, until he and Ani barely escape an explosion on the shores of Smoky Lake. Things just got real, and more dangerous than they know. Now Gil and Ani are racing against time and from enemies unknown to unravel a mystery that started deep in the Alaskan permafrost and now threatens the town of Firelight Ridge—while fighting chemistry hot enough to light up Smoky Lake.