In this sweeping Rita Award–nominated Western romance, a young actress struggling to make it in Hollywood meets her match in a fiery, handsome screenwriter.

The strength of a legend. The transforming power of love. On a movie set, a pair of shattering love stories unfolds as two couples surrender to the healing balm of passion...

Lissa Bauer has always been careful to hide the hurts of her past, knowing that showing her pain won’t help her acting career. Now it’s her big break, playing the compelling, hardscrabble heroine of Matthew Briggs’s stunning novel, A High, Hard Land. As Lissa struggles with her complex feelings for the story’s enigmatic hero, however, she’s not capturing her role to Matthew’s satisfaction. He—as well as his hero—is playing havoc with her deepest emotions.

Matthew has never met a woman like Lissa—beautiful, vulnerable, willing to give one hundred percent to revealing his heroine. He can’t understand what is driving her away. Finally, he has found a woman he can love. But will the depth of their emotions tear them apart . . . or teach them trust in each other’s arms?

Tory Cates is a Rita Award nominee who lives in Texas.