A quiet, peaceful walk in the snow—that was the plan—that is, until Claire Kaniere happens upon the dead body of Betsy Piedermeyer lying half in the street under a blanket of snow. It seems bad enough that she has returned to the Canadian Island she vowed to never set foot on again but now she has uncovered a murder.

With a murderer on the loose and her mother enduring the last of her treatments for chemotherapy the last thing on Claire's mind is romance. But, another thing she hasn't planned on is the return of Thad McRaven, a member of the island's upper class and a member of the Grandice family, the very family that thought her unsuitable to be involved with one of them and the reason she left Whippoli Island.

Claire and Thad are immediately attracted to one another and their feelings grow to the point of love. But Thad is a murder suspect as is every other person on the island—and Claire can't, and won't allow herself to, forget that he is a member of the family she despises. Even though Thad seems so different from his relatives, Claire is cautious. But that caution soon ebbs away each time she finds herself in Thad's arms.