The Mountain Ridge Ranch had been passed down through the Colton family for generations. So when Michelle Colton opens the ranch to the town's less fortunate children, her eldest son, Jack, is less than impressed. Why would he want a bunch of trouble makers running riot in his home?
With an agreement made to be left out of his mother's plan, Jack tries to turn a blind eye to the unwelcome intruders, but that's not as easy as he imagined. Within the blink of an eye, Jack finds himself being wrapped up in his mother's new regime and that's not the only thing he's caught up in.
A certain brunette, Willow, with shy eyes and a timid posture, immediately gains the stubborn man's attention, much to his dismay. Jack was determined to stay out of his mother's pet project, but a girl with a damaged past soon has him wrapped around her little finger, whipped
As time gallops on and the teenagers settle, rumours begin to form, arguments take flight and secrets fall out into the open. Pasts are revealed and pasts, once again, pursue the frightened. It's not long before Jack finds himself desperate to uncover the truth surrounding the fear in Willow, and he becomes even more eager to protect the nervous girl from the world, and maybe, even herself.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]