Where the Wild Wind Leads

At forty-two, widowed boutique owner Tessa McDowell has perfected the art of surviving without truly living. Eighteen months after her husband's sudden death, her best friend sends her from Ithaca to a guest ranch in South Dakota's Black Hills, hoping three weeks away will help Tessa find the woman grief erased.

At Kane Ranch, Tessa meets Adrian Kane, the warm, restless younger brother who chose the family land over the future someone else wanted for him. Through trail rides, ranch work, new friendships, and his steady companionship, Tessa begins to want more than mere recovery. But a future with Adrian means confronting the guilt of moving forward, the fierce protectiveness of his brother John, and the ticking clock on her return flight.

When joy turns abruptly to loss and a ranch accident leaves Tessa injured, she must decide whether Kane Ranch is only the place where she learned to live again-or the beginning of a life she is brave enough to choose. Returning to Ithaca does not end the question. To build a future with Adrian, Tessa must discover whether love can survive ordinary life, long distance, and the pull of two places that both feel like home.