Torn between devotion and a secret yearning for adventure and fulfillment, Mary Frances Dennehy makes her choice. Shocking her family, she leaves the convent and her cloistered existence behind and sets out in search of a new life. But for a woman alone, the West can be a hostile and treacherous place. And no one is in more dangerous—and irresistible—than Ryder McKay.

Faithful to the Apaches who raised him, now sentenced to hang for a crime he didn't commit, Ryder is desperate enough to seize one last chance for freedom. Taking Mary Dennehy hostage, the army scout plots his daring escape into the mountains only to find himself with a woman he never expected, one who makes him feel fully alive and hungry for more. Now, with danger closing in, a breathtaking bid for freedom becomes a journey into forbidden passion that will test two lovers' faith and challenge their hearts.