"Olivia Vanderhoff runs away from her wealthy but unfeeling father who was trying to force her into a marriage for purely financial reasons. With her aunt's help, Olivia hides on a ranch in Idaho under a new name, Libby Blue.
Six years later, Aunt Amanda is dead, and Libby is running the sheep ranch. She's got problems to deal with besides the hard work on the ranch, namely the plotting of Bevin, a rich neighbor who wants to buy up all the land in the area. Libby refuses to sell the ranch, so Bevins resorts to all kinds of dirty tricks. One night Libby thinks she sees Bevins on her land, hiding in the shadows. Knowing how dangerous he can be, she tries to chase him off and fires a warning shot, but ends up hitting him. Libby runs to the fallen man, scared that she's killed him. To her horror, she sees that it's not Bevins but a stranger she has never met before.
The man, Remington Walker, is alive. Libby takes him into her house and takes care of him. Little does she know that Remington is a detective hired by her father to track her down. Remington, of course, does not tell her who he is and what business brought him to Idaho. As he recovers from the gunshot wound, he watches Libby's hard work and learns about her troubles with the plotting neighbor. He begins to take part in her life, helping her with her chores and standing up to Bevins. Before they know it, Remington and Libby fall in love. Inside, Remington struggles with the fact that he is her father's paid agent who must report her whereabouts. He no longer wants to do that. Still, he can't bring himself to tell everything to Libby. The longer he keeps his secret, the harder it is to come clean. He decides to inform Libby's father that he cannot find her and return the fee. The truth eventually comes out, and Libby almost loses her trust in Remington, but all is well in the end.
"
Laura Southcombe, Resident Scholar
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