Sam Johnson of the mighty Johnsons of Naples, Nevada (Rancher's Girl), is a horse trainer by profession. He and his father, Colt Johnson (Whisperer), have a training business on the Johnson Ranch and have done well as trainers for many years.

A freak accident with a wild horse brought in for training leaves Sam wounded physically and emotionally. After his injuries heal, his confidence as a horse trainer is shot, and Sam wonders if he'll ever want to be a trainer again.

Confused about his life, he leaves the ranch in Nevada to stay with his great grandparents up in Sonoma, California, wine country. His great grandfather slowly begins to engage him with horses again, but it's an uphill battle and one that Sam isn't sure he wants to fight.

He meets Ellie Lombardi, whose family has owned a winery in Sonoma for generations. She's got trouble of her own. Her parents were badly hurt in a car accident, leaving her father in a wheelchair with dementia setting in. Someone is stalking her, and the winery has financial troubles.

Neither Sam nor Ellie is interested in a romantic entanglement, but circumstances throw them together, and they tentatively try each other out. Dispensing Sam's demons and Ellie's stalker become overwhelming, and their budding relationship could be over before it really begins. Love must find a way.

This is the first in a series called Rancher's Legacy based on the second generation from the Rancher series.