A desire for absolution brought ex-con Travis Alden to Paradise Peak. When he finds honest work at Paradise Peak Ranch, he shelves his plan to unburden his guilty secret. Instead he works alongside the very people his transgressions hurt the most. Travis seizes the opportunity to do good, to earn the respect his new boss shows him. Only Travis doesn't count on his feelings for his boss's beautiful niece. Hannah Newsome is a woman with a past as bleak as Travis's--the kind of woman he should protect, not pursue. But once the rugged loner sees her wariness turn to warmth, all he can think about is having it all right here, with Hannah by his side.