When sexy Chicago FBI agent Jack MacAlister, the one with the “bad boy smile,” meets beautiful ice maiden Sophie Rose, the chemistry is instantaneous. Sophie has an acute aversion to FBI agents, and Jack soon realizes he must rely on his player instincts to get the attention of the woman who just “knocked the air out of him.”

Sophie’s hatred of law enforcement is intensified time and again as her father, Bobby Rose, is the man authorities want behind bars for various thefts, but they can’t come up with a single shred of proof. Sophie is under constant surveillance and suspicion of harboring her father’s whereabouts. When Bobbie Rose is in the news, Sophie is the target of threats. She and her best friends, Regan and Cordie, “could play Charlie’s Angels.” They are savvy, sexy and satisfied. Together they provide Sophie with laughter, support and protection --- Regan’s husband Alec is Jack’s partner at the FBI.

Herman Bitterman, father figure and editor-in-chief of the Illinois Chronicle, assigns Sophie to cover the story of William Harrington, an egomaniacal runner who always wears red socks and a red t-shirt for every race. A seemingly boring story begins a chain of events that lead Sophie and the FBI to a murder. Harrington thinks his 25th race is front page news, but when Sophie meets him, the interview is bizarre and the man is repulsive. The next thing she knows, a reporter calls her from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to tell her that Bitterman was mauled by a polar bear and they found her business card in his red sock. Fire and ice collide as Jack becomes Sophie’s protector after a bullet barely misses her blonde perfection.

Sophie’s reporter instincts tell her that the attempt on her life and the interview with Harrington are connected. She convinces Bitterman to let her go to Alaska to research the story of the polar bear murder and discovers clues to Alpha Project, the very same project Harrington said he was going to be a part of. Numerous nefarious characters, hours of tapes featuring the daily lives of Alaskan wolves and the quest for the fountain of youth lead Sophie and Jack into the icy Alaskan wilderness.

Julie Garwood’s reputation as a romance writer is firmly established by numerous appearances on the New York Times bestseller list. Seduction, fire and ice Julie Garwood style is romantic perfection. Jack’s fire melts Sophie’s icy reserve and her heart. Some women just can’t stay away from fire, and Sophie is one of those women.