Dr. Carly Cambridge, wildlife biologist, returns to the Texas Gulf Coast to manage the latest Habitats for Nature project. Having sworn off women and relationships, Carly is perfectly content to live her life alone. But then wildlife photographer Pat Ryan is duped into volunteering her talents to the cause.

Kate Winters, author of the popular mystery series The Masters, finds herself in a bit of a predicamentshe doesn't seem to be able to write any longer. So when her old friend and wealthy widow Brenda invites Kate to spend the summer in Coyote, New Mexico, Kate decides that a summer in Coyote might be just what she needs to clear her writer's block. Leaving behind the Dallas heatand her girlfriend RobinKate retreats to the high mountain desert and soon finds herself surrounded by Brenda's eccentric friends and artists. But it's the local sheriff, Lee Foxx, who soon grabs her attention. It doesn't take long for Kate to discover that Lee has a penchant for dating the young tourists that flock to the river canyon each summerand that Lee has no intention of ever settling down. Then an unexpected visit by Kate's girlfriend sends everyone scrambling. Torn between safety and desire, Kate has no idea which way to turn. And as for Leeshe can't quite believe that she's actually fallen in love... for the very first time in her life."

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 of estrangement from her mother. The odd assortment of residents of this small mountain town brings them together but it is Annie Stone, a woman Chris has grown to admire and a woman Jessie still feels hatred for, that binds the two. Through lies and deception, they still cannot deny the growing attraction that will brighten both their lives...if only they will allow it. As Chris fights for her life in a winter blizzard, Jessie comes to terms with her past and her mother, finally accepting the love that Chris willingly offers her.

While the investigations go on in Dallas and Baton Rouge after the disappearance of a senator s daughter, FBI agents CJ Johnston and Paige Riley are assigned to the sleepy backwoods of East Texas. Random disappearances dating back fifty years and more raise red flags that point to the tiny, isolated community of Hoganville, where CJ and Paige go undercover at an all-girls school. Feeling the assignment is nothing more than a dead-end, they integrate themselves into the lives of the teachers and staff, more concerned with getting past the one-night stand they shared six months earlier than actually thinking Hoganville was somehow connected to the disappearances. But soon, the odd behavior of the townspeople has them convinced something sinister lurks there. Something, perhaps, that even the residents of Hoganville don t know about."

One mistake leads to a year of exile... Used to the busy playground of Winter Park, police chief Reese Daniels is shipped off to sleepy Lake City, Colorado. She takes the job of sheriff seriously, but makes it clear to one and all: this year is just a blip in her life. When it's done, she's gone. Forest Ranger M. Z. Morgan has lived in Lake City long enough to be considered a local. The pace, the quiet and the many friends make life there well worth the lack of dating material. A girlfriend would still be nice, and the new sheriff is easy on the eyes. It's entirely natural for Morgan and Reese to be friendly, but Reese's repeated reminders that she's not sticking around make it impossible for anything more between them. That is, until they strike a no strings bargain. Some guaranteed exchange of heat as the long winter sets in seems just what they need to pass the time. So what if it's the best sex they've ever had? It's still only temporary. They won't mistake sex for more, even if it only gets bettermonth after month. After month. No Stringsit seemed like a good idea at the time. Golden Crown Literary Award winner Gerri Hill weaves a sensuous, sizzling story against the spectacular backdrop of a year in the high country."