Rissa Mathews' world was the skies and she loved to fly, but the traumatic death of her husband in a car accident and its devastating impact on her young teenage daughter had her world spiraling out of control. Out of a job, in debt, living in a small cabin in her cousin Maura's ranch in North Star, Montana, with her fourteen year old daughter, Skylar, who had turned gothic black and was in trouble at her new school, could things get much worse. Oh, yes, the flashing red lights of the police car behind her indicated it just did.

Good thing the handsome Sheriff Jonas Taggert let her off with a warning, as he would soon need to beg a big favour from her. A single father since his wife had run off on him, he wasn't sure how to handle his young teenage daughter's blossoming into a young woman. So, he asks Rissa to go and check on Caroline while she is buying her first bra to make sure everything worked out okay for her. While that was nicely managed, Rissa had much greater difficulties when he warned her to keep Skylar away from Caroline as she was considered to be a bad influence and constantly in trouble at school. Yet, Rissa saw the growing friendship between the two girls as the only lifeline that was saving Skylar from the lingering impact of her father's death and her total personality change. As their daughters' world helped pull them into a growing friendship and love for each other, could Jonas ever give Rissa the green light when he was so prejudiced against Skylar?

Kay Stockham has really hit her stride in developing this riveting story of love, single parents and family relationships. All her characters are realistically depicted with deep motivations that both draw and repel the people they so desperately want to love. It is a fascinating read and the various subplots are masterfully interwoven to add tension and hint at deeper wounds that only love can surface and heal. Enjoy this heartwarming and gusty story!