Jesse McAllister of the Sundance ranch is facing his family's slide into the red and considers re-enlisting as a pilot, to earn better money and to escape his empty personal life. But on a snowy Christmas night he finds there might a be a reason to change his mind.

Shea Monroe is a computer software engineer working from San Jose. She decides to avoid family strife by not going home for Christmas and instead volunteers to help at a large animal shelter in Montana. The Sundance is partly a dude ranch run by Jesse's sister Rachel, and while they do not board dudes over Christmas they are glad to give a room to a volunteer. Shea is nervous around people and is almost overwhelmed when she is introduced to the boisterous ranch family over dinner. Next day Jesse takes her out on a trail ride in the snow-covered mountains and they manage to find common ground.

Shea assists with caring for the animals on the shelter's land - goats, bison and two hundred horses included. The amount of feed and hay required is staggering. The girl falls in love with a roan colt and when the colt escapes his stable and vanishes into the snow, she unwisely sets out after him. Jesse, making a flight in a Cessna, spots Shea just as a blizzard is about to descend and lands, taking the girl to shelter in a nearby cabin. Snowed in, the pair get to know each other and while Jesse promises to behave like a gentleman, the intimacy of their surroundings encourages confidence and Shea feels as much desire for the rancher as he does for her.

Debbi Rawlins previously wrote Own The Night about Blackfoot Falls and relishes throwing city girls into ranching country settings, way out of their depth. Luckily for them, her heroes are the kind to see past the cheap thrills offered by many tourist girls but can recognise a diamond when they see one.

In the case of Shea and Jesse, the characters are well written and endearing, roundly developed, with a common cause in the assistance of abandoned large animals. The setting is also well described. The more I read Debbi Rawlins, the more I like her.