Natalie Minton's cheerful exterior hides desperation. She's been out of work for months when her estranged sister appears on her doorstep pleading for help. An offer to write the biography of a local political legend couldn't come at a better time. Rafe Talbot rejected family tradition and chose medicine over politics. When he stumbles upon evidence of a hidden scandal, his only recourse is to work alongside--and stay one step ahead of--the vivacious scholar hired to chronicle his mother's career. Natalie's exuberance strikes sparks off Rafe's steely severity, luring them to ignore the secrets shadowing their pasts...until the glare of the present exposes intolerable truths. (Natalie 36, Rafe 42)