Alexandra Chambers' well organized and well defined life had put her on a path to fall in love with wrong man at the wrong time. Tad Pierce defined Washington, D.C. Tired of his manipulations and abuse, Alex sought to distance herself from him. By accepting a position in the last place she expected, Ashmore Valley offered peace, serenity and a new start. All of the things she desperately needed. And all of the things she never expected to experience. James O'Reilly's soon to be ex-wife's treachery had destroyed any chance any woman had of breaching his defenses again. Accepting a meaningless affair with his secretary, Francine Malone, he thought that by satisfying his lust, he could ignore his heart. When Alexandra Chambers looked at him with those eyes, he was lost and he knew it. Alex wasn't ready for another man to be in control of her and James wasn't ready to entrust his heart to another woman. But somehow, through the turmoil that a jealous Tad inflicts on the couple, they fight for the happiness that they so rightly deserve. They accept the roses that love brings and the thorns that jealousy breeds.