New Mexico -- Where a bold passion was kindled and seared her heart forever

Beth Johanssen and Jerry Dixon were as different as a rugged mountain and a desert flower... as sunset and dawn.

They met in a fierce confrontation that frightened her and challenged him. But something else was born in that moment-- something that changed their lives forever.

Still, when the tough, handsome rancher finally revealed his growing desire, she hid her own yearning and told him she was desperately needed by the Navajo children she had come to teach.

But the school concealed a grim surprise -- and soon the cruelties of this reckless land would lock them together in a rebellion against harsh fate. . . two hearts never so proud, in a love never so passionate!