When a vacation from hell becomes a vacation of a lifetime. Nina, taking a time out from her English fiance, ends up in Colorado for a two week vacation in the mountains. Within the first chapter there is a mix up with her rental and the owner is home occupying it. Once her and the owner Max meet, this story leads into everything you could want in a story. Romance, murder, kidnapping, crazy family, nutty townsfolk, and of course a sexy mountain man. You get hooked reading Nina's two week adventure that starts with her getting sick and Max taking care of her despite them arguing as soon as they meet. Max is everything a woman wants in a fictional character (maybe in real life too). He is passionate from the start. Knows what he wants a goes for it, even with Nina's constant protests. Max is domineering, which often pisses of Nina who is stubborn. A lot of the time Max's personality is a good thing because it draws Nina out of her comfort zone she put herself in with men and realize her fiance is not who she wants. While their relationship grows they are dealing with the aftermath of the murder of the town's big shot. It was no love lost for the town with the death, for he was the one who accidently killed Max's wife and crippled his own. On top of that he was messing around on his wife with a woman who was too old in my opinion to be messing with several guys at once hoping to get their fortune. This woman, Shauna, as soon as she is introduced is immediately considered a bitch and Nina certainly learns how so when she often lies to her own best friend. Max and Nina's relationship is definitely a whirlwind and oh so hot at the same time. That doesn't mean they didn't have troubles. There was one point I didn't like Max, even if I agreed with him a little. Max had found out that Nina had known about his dead wife for at least a week. He hadn't told her but several people in town made passing comments about her. When he learned she knew he got mad, not because she knew, it was because with all that was going on and dredging up bad parts of his pasts, Nina never offered him comfort about it. If I was in Nina's situation I probably wouldn't bring up knowing either since it seems like something he should do in his own time. How do you bring up knowing that the love of his life was killed when you are building up something with him? It can't be easy and it will bring up stuff that maybe she doesn't want to know. Max certainly tells her everything about him and his wife that further cements how much he wants a life with Nina. Second chances don't come around everyday and he was taking his. There a triggers throughout the story with mentions of rape, suicide, attempted suicide, and miscarriages. It's not always a pretty story line and the author does a great job of making sure these triggers are done well and not tossed in to add drama. This story is a long one and it's worth every minute spent reading it. Plus in the epilogue there is a brief third person view of Max. It was nice seeing his happy ending with his family and the gamble they took paid off well.