She thought he looked familiar, but couldn't be sure. He was tall, dark, bearded. What if he was one of the men trying to kill her? Adrenaline surged through her, and she pummeled and kicked, mindless in her rage. When he suddenly released her, she fell hard. In Angel Ridge, Tennessee, not much goes on around town in the winter. After Christmas, folks usually hunker down and wait for spring to come to the Smoky Mountains. But given recent events, which included a bombing and newspaper publisher Jenny Thompson's disappearance, people in town are understandably on edge. Now Jenny's in hiding on a nearby mountain, waiting for trouble to catch up with her and none too sure it hasn't, when reclusive mountain man Cord Goins comes to her rescue. Stuck between a beginning and an ending, both she and Cord feel powerless to control the dangerous situation they've found themselves in, along with the unexpected consequences of falling in love.