Hannah Cody grew up sunny, carefree and loved in the Snowy Mountains town of Hanrahan, but a vicious prank at university in Sydney changed that. Instead of studying medicine, she moved to a small regional centre, switched to veterinary science and swore off romance for life. Ten quiet years later, she's settled. She's safe. And yeah, she hasn't left Hanrahan in years, but that's not agoraphobia, is it? It's not hiding if you're happy.

After many years abroad as a naval analyst, Tom Krauss is drawn home by his estranged father's deteriorating health and his own secret injury. But as soon as he sets eyes on Hannah again, he realises that he's never forgotten the engaging little sister of his best friend. He loved her when he was a teenager, and now he knows he never stopped. Problem - romance is a no-go. There's a piece of shrapnel wedged against his spine, and the countdown is on for him to make a surgical decision that could free him from pain ... or paralyse him.

But the Hanrahan townsfolk have other ideas - it's time for Hannah to work out that living with your heart wide open is worth the risk, and it's time for Tom to learn that love is messy and wonderful and necessary. Change is afoot in this small town, and these two will have to work out if they can be brave enough to make changes too ...