After abandoning a Hollywood life she hated, Alice Treemont retreated to a ramshackle house in the Nevada community of Blake’s Folly, began studying and protecting snakes. Now a recognized herpetologist, she spends her days walking across the desert, running a shelter for abandoned dogs and cooking gourmet vegetarian meals. She’s perfectly happy too —lonely sometimes — but she wouldn’t trade this life for any other.
Jace Constant, well-known writer is out of his element in the desert. A stray dog on the highway brings him into contact with Alice Treemont… and it’s a meeting he can’t seem to forget. Why? She’s not his type at all. He’s a Chicago man, loves sophisticated women, contemporary art, fine dining. And when he finds himself knocking on Alice’s creaking door with the intention of renting a spare room, he wonders if dry desert air has addled his brain.
Put Alice and Jace near each other and the air crackles. Love at first sight? Impossible! Alice won’t make life easy for a sweet-talking man of words who hates dusty shoes, dogs, desert bleakness and snakes. So what if he’s intelligent, sexy and nice. So what if her fingers ache to reach out, caress. So what if Jace is just as clearly attracted by her own long lankiness, her braids and her odd lifestyle. She’s not in the market for a short lusty fling with someone who’ll be stepping out of the picture any day now, heading back to city lights.
Out on the sidelines, avidly watching the love play between Alice and Jace, are the other 52 residents of Blake’s Folly. Without scruples or shame, they’re happy to indulge in a heavy dose of interfering, theorizing and intensive match-making.
Alice doesn’t really stand a chance, does she?