Smoke Montoya… Ex-Navy SEAL. Wanderer. A man can’t change his past. Yet there Smoke was, forced to deal with the deaths of his parents in the wake of a deadly Texas twister. He no longer belongs at their ranch, the Lost Chaparral; he’s not sure he ever did. Face to face with regret for words unspoken, he plans to sell the place and move out. It’s a solid exit strategy: Get in and get out before the Devil knows he's there. It would’ve worked until that frisky herd of Texas Longhorns showed up. Jessie West… Super model. New York’s latest flavor of the month. She’s only come back to Texas to bury her brother Ethan and to sell the family farm before the press catches wind she’s not at the swimsuit shoot in Cannes, France. The only obstacle to her devious plan is the cowboy who lives down the road. The one who started a fire in her belly when she was just a kid in pigtails. The one who’s as elusive as… Smoke.

A carpenter by trade, his true talent lies in carving figureheads, the lifelike depictions of mermaids, legends, and such, the type found at the prows of the mighty masted sailing ships of yore, clippers and galleons. Pirate ships… The girl who got away? Colby Quaid, one of America's first female Army Rangers. She's only returned to Boston to handle her family's business. It's a quick trip. She won't be in town long, but now she's wondering. Why does Ash Callahan's figurehead of the infamous Irish Pirate Queen, Grace O'Malley, look like her? In the nude?