Accepting a promise ring doesn't feel like freedom.

But there it is, in front of Dawn's face on the eve of high school graduation. While Dawn freaks out on the inside, she goes through the motions on the outside. She and Chris have been together almost three years. Her family—Mama, Daddy and all five of her brothers and sisters—expect them to be together forever, and Dawn's never gone against expectations.

Mama picked her college, and her boyfriend's picking her life, so Dawn concocts a plan to pick her own summer—dumping Texas for a hotel job near Denali National Park. But Alaska is more than she bargained for. On her first solo hike she's cornered by an imposing moose. One co-worker pushes her too far during their night sharing a tent. Meanwhile there's a sexy cook from Dallas who friend-zones her even though she's conflicted about wanting more.

Mama and Daddy arrive late-summer with her boyfriend and siblings in tow, pushing for Dawn to come on home, claiming she's needed to help with her oldest brother's shotgun wedding. But the wild beauty of Alaska has stolen her heart and she's not letting go of her chance to make her own choices. Dawn has to find the courage to stand up to her family and Chris to finish out her Denali summer or risk going back to small-town Texas, following everyone else's plan for her life.