When a sexy, protective stranger shows up on her doorstep, Emma McRae doesn't give a thought to falling in love with him. But she does just that—falls hard and fast, and for the first time in her life. Then, she discovers his secrets. Rye is a man with an ugly past. He didn't come to the pretty town of Baxter, Ohio, looking for a woman. But there she was; pretty and sweet, and the kind of woman he’d always wanted, but never dreamed he could have. Emma's innocent vulnerability tugs at Rye's weary heart, and the sizzling sexual pull between them can't be ignored. But there's another: Emma's dangerous ex-boyfriend, an outraged and overprotective father with a family connection that means Rye and Emma's relationship is doomed from the start.