Amry Marasich is a lesbian novelist whose day job is editing for a local paper in Minneapolis. Vacationing in her hometown of Hibbing in northern Minnesota's spectacular Iron Range, she meets forestry officer Takoda Running Bear while cycling the scenic Mesabi Trail. The attraction between them is instantaneous and almost magical.

Unfortunately, reality rears its ugly head, in the form of Amry's homophobic siblings. Although they both profess to "love the sinner, hate the sin," like so many of their ilk, "hate" seems to be the operative word—reviving in Amry painful memories of growing up different in a close-minded small town and reminding her of why she chose to leave it for the anonymity of the big city.

Neither Amry nor Takoda are interested in a summer romance, so the geographically challenged couple struggle to make time for each other with long phone calls and short, passionate visits. But for Amry, falling in love would mean falling back into a life she fled. When fate turns her world upside down, will she have the courage to surrender the past and commit to a new life and an unknown future with Takoda?