When newly widowed Hattie Rommel chooses a second husband, she doesn't expect him to fulfill her most secret dreams. She just wants him to take her to Oregon. Emmet Lachlan marries Hattie with the understanding that he will be free to leave her behind, once she is safely in Oregon. He is a wandering man, not a settling-down farmer. Then an old trapper bequeaths them a map to a valley where gold lies on the ground for the taking. While Emmet and Hattie gather the gold, they also discover each other. Even lost in love's magic, they both know it cannot last. When they run afoul of murderous renegades, they must flee across untamed mountains to the hidden valley Hattie calls Cherry Vale. In the home she's always longed for, Emmet discovers a peace he's never sought. The end of summer means they must resume their interrupted journey. Can Hattie leave the only place that's ever felt like home? And if she does, will Emmet give up looking for what's on the far side of the hill?

Judith B. Glad writes romance because she believes every story should have a happy ending, even if it requires two or three hankies to get there. After growing up in Idaho, Judith now lives in Portland, Oregon, where flowers bloom in her yard every month of the year and snow usually stays on the mountains where it belongs. It's a great place to write, because the rainy season lasts for eight months?a perfect excuse to stay indoors and tell stories. When she's not writing, Judith is riding her bicycle, messing about in the kitchen, editing other people's books or creating prize-winning cover art. Visit Judith's webpage at www.judithbglad.com to learn more about all her books, in several romance genres--because she can't make up her mind which she enjoys writing the most.