For years Lyssa Smith struggled to create the illusion of a normal life. But when she crosses a powerful land developer, the truth about her offbeat family comes out, shattering her veneer of normalcy—and her dreams for the future. Her best chance for rebuilding herself lies with the overbearing Dane Callicott, a man with secrets of his own.
Free-spirited Lyssa Smith sees her life thrown into chaos when she unwittingly exposes a plot devised by Tank Turnbull, a powerful land developer in the Phoenix area. But doing the right thing comes at a price, as Turnbull and his conspirators seek to save themselves by destroying her reputation, ruining her career, and exposing her secrets. With her carefully constructed life crumbling around her, Lyssa seizes the opportunity to salvage her dreams by forging an unlikely alliance with Dane Callicott.
Still grappling with the failure of his latest venture, the unconventional Highline Resort, Dane is presented with another maverick proposition, but he’ll need Lyssa’s help to carry it off. Should Dane listen to his muse and risk his family’s fortune on another visionary project, or will he return to the safe but unsustainable practices of his father?
Shackled by family expectations, battered by a series of betrayals, and blinded by impossible choices, Dane and Lyssa might very well bulldoze over their one chance for happiness—unless together they can blaze a new trail forward.
Excerpt
Dane tossed her an unreadable look and dropped his hand from his midsection, gesturing toward the ballroom. She became aware of a whiskey-smooth trumpet phrase and a burst of loud conversation emanating from within.
"Well, thanks for the expert advice," he said. "Shall we go in, so you can see the rest of it? That way you can fawn over the inside, too."
"I'm enjoying the breeze, if not the company. Don't let me keep you from your guests." She turned on her heel, feeling her slightly sweat-dampened foot slide within the shoe. But she kept her ankle from twisting and began to put some ground between them.
To her surprise and irritation, he joined her. "The breeze is pleasant," he said.
She flashed him a look, but his high-wattage smile told her nothing of what he was thinking as they strolled in step.
After a few moments he asked, "What are you doing here, Lyssa?"
"Here?" She stopped on one of the flagstones and frowned up at him. He had sent her the invitation—or so she'd thought. It had come from his office.
He swung around to block her way.
"What, exactly, are you asking?" Lyssa was struck with a sudden and preposterous fear that he knew she was planning to confront Tank Turnbull. "I assumed I was here because I was invited."
"I meant 'here,' as in working for Clearview. Pandering to—what did you call us back then? Land sharks. Wasn't that the term you used?"
She felt heat rise in her cheeks and thanked the natural tawniness of her skin for hiding her tendency to blush. She had indeed mentioned something like that to him, in an elevator on the way up to the Callicott offices that very first day, before she knew who he was. He had the look of an outdoorsman, not a paper pusher.
"As for why you're here at this particular place and time," he continued before she could summon a response, "I could hardly forget what you did to get the Highline off the ground."
"So to speak," she finally managed to say.
He inclined his head. "No pun intended. You saved Callicott millions of dollars in environmental cleanup costs. If you hadn't suggested siting the resort farther south, the whole project would have had to be cancelled."
Lyssa bit her tongue. Not hard, just enough to keep from blurting out the first word that came to mind, which had to do with livestock and manure, on which she truly was an expert. "Why do you do that?" she asked.
"Do what?"
"Reduce everything to money."
"Not everything," he said grimly. "Just those things that have to produce."
"I would think," she began, "that you could take pleasure in having created something worthy of existing in its own right."
"Art for art's sake, you mean? No, I don't have that luxury."
"For crying out loud, Dane." She placed her hands on her hips. "With the kind of money you've got backing you, you can have any luxury you want."
Lyssa couldn't help but think what she could do with one one-hundredth part of his fortune: save her parents' farm, to start with. Then use the rest to shake up the status quo.
She cast him a sidelong look and caught him rubbing absently at his sternum. Either that was a habit she'd never before noticed or the man had a case of heartburn tonight. Probably caused by his foul mood, which was certainly doing nothing for her.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?"
"And what do you think?" she challenged.
"I think—" He broke off. When he spoke again, it was in a very different voice, light and amused. "I think you're a constant surprise. When I first met you and heard you going on about stewardship of the earth, I had you pegged as a wild-eyed environmentalist. The last thing I expected to find was an advocate of compromise."
She caught her lower lip between her teeth. "I might have been a bit over the top in my younger days. Who isn't?" She struggled to match him for lightness as she declared, "Anyway, I prefer to think of myself as a conservationist."
Then he turned solemn again. "What are you doing in this business, Lyssa? What have you done to your principles?"
Professional Reviews
Susan's Kindle Samples
(EXCERPT ONLY) ". . . What a delight this sample was! I immediately bought the book when I finished it and can’t wait to read it. The author has a beautiful way with words and her descriptions are rich and evocative, bringing the Highline Resort to vibrant life for the reader. She is obviously familiar with the ecosystem of Arizona and knowledgeable concerning its plants and landscapes, and has done her research on the architectural style involved in the resort. Rich character development is obvious even in a short sample. . ."
Shirine McVey discovers that twenty years of her life have elapsed since she went to sleep in a hotel room in El Paso, Texas. And worse, she is married to a man she doesn't know.
