She saves lives in the ER. He’ll risk everything to save hers—whether she wants him to or not.

Dr. Penelope Stark came to the Oregon mountains for three months of peace. After brutal years in the ER watching the pandemic claim too many lives, she’s burned out, hollow, and desperately needs to remember why she became a doctor. Solo hiking is her therapy, her reset button, her way back to herself.

Too bad the local Search & Rescue team leader thinks she’s reckless.

Zackery Pace has spent fifteen years with one mission: save people from the mountains that took his younger sister. As SAR team leader and volunteer firefighter, he’s made it his life’s work to rescue careless hikers—especially stubborn women who hike alone and think they’re invincible. When the gorgeous, petite doctor ignores every warning and heads into the backcountry solo, his protective instincts kick into overdrive.

Their first meeting? He’s rescuing an injured hiker she’s already treating. His second opinion on her “reckless behavior”? Not appreciated.

But when a massive wildfire forces evacuations and they’re assigned to rescue trapped campers together, antagonism ignites into something hotter than the flames surrounding them. On a multi-day trek through dangerous terrain, walls crumble. She sees the grief-stricken brother behind the hero complex. He sees the competent, skilled woman he misjudged as careless.

Back in town, their chemistry is undeniable. But Zackery can’t let go of control—tracking her location, demanding she check in, forbidding her to hike alone. And Penelope refuses to be suffocated by someone else’s fear, no matter how well-intentioned.

When she plans a solo summit to prove her independence and a storm traps her on the mountain, Zackery faces his worst nightmare: history repeating. The woman he loves is in danger, and this time, he has to trust that she’s capable enough to survive until he reaches her.

Can a man who’s built his life around control learn that love means letting go? And can a fiercely independent woman let someone in without losing herself?

A steamy standalone mountain man romance featuring:

• Enemies to lovers with antagonistic chemistry
• Grumpy overprotective hero meets sunshine independent heroine
• Search & Rescue and wildfire action
• Curvy doctor heroine who takes no mansplaining
• Control issues and grief handled with emotional depth
• Forced proximity during rescue mission
• Competence kink (both are skilled in their fields)
• Small-town Oregon mountain setting
• HEA guaranteed with groveling and growth

This is Book 3 in the Timber Falls Mountain Men series. Each book is a complete standalone with its own HEA.