A hot appendix is about the only thing that would get Montana Thomas out of the isolated mountain valley he calls home, especially when his reappearance into the world could endanger the people he loves. All he wants to do is go home. But the weather doesn't cooperate, and the treacherous mountain passes are closed for the winter. Dr. Jericho Jax lost his wife to an auto crash a year ago. Worse, the medical team that was supposed to save her life failed. Now he has vowed vengeance on them all. One by one he checks names off his list, until he comes to Bisi Sinclair's, the doctor who just saved Montana's life. The woman he is falling in love with. Montana senses something not quite right about Jericho. When he starts asking questions, arousing Jericho's suspicions, he becomes the next target. In order to get to Bisi, Jericho has to go through Montana. And that may not be as easy as it looks, for Montana will do whatever it takes to protect what is his.