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.