Alex Belgarde has carried the culpability of his fatherโs death for more than ten years. Every year, as his familyโs company falls deeper into debt, the guilt eats away more of his soul until thereโs only one answer. Prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his fatherโs legacy, Alex takes off on a frigid winter day with no radio and very little fuel in his seaplane. Heโs using up the last of his reserve tank, preparing to drop from the sky, when he sees plane wreckage below.
Irene Rose has spent her life chasing her dream. But after a possible terminal diagnosis, she realizes how lonely her life has become and is ready to forgive her sister and beg for her familyโs forgiveness. Instead of arriving on the island of her birth, Irene finds herself stranded in the Alaskan wilderness. Unbeknownst to her, the pilot for the plane she chartered was a drug runner, so he didnโt alert authorities as they crashed.
While Alexโs illogical idea to save his fatherโs company is thwarted because of his obligation to help others, he finds purpose in offering aid to the beautiful and intelligent Irene. The attraction is mutual until Irene persuades Alex to tell her the real reason he canโt simply fly them to safety or call for help. Now the two castaways will have to fight the harsh winter elements, as well as the drug smugglers who lost their cargo in the wreck, if they want to make it home alive. Not easy tasks when Irene refuses to trust Alex to get her home safely. She simply canโt get over the fact that as talented, tough, and tantalizing as he is that he was going to throw his life away when hers will probably be cut short.
For the first time in his life, Alex will have to face his demons instead of running from them in order to win the girl and prove to himself that heโs a real hero.
Carmen DeSousaโs stories overflow with romance, suspense, a hint of humor and, of course, a few Kleenex moments. After all, what would a great story be without an emotional event setting the stage? All her novels are sensual but not erotic, gripping but not graphic, and will make you cry, laugh, love, and hope.ย