Somebody is killing the women of Rocky Start, which probably seems fair since they're all retired assassins. Well, not all. There's Rose Malone who's trying to start her life over with herself at the center this time, once she stops her daughter, Poppy, from taking their secondhand shop online since Rose is still hiding out from the cops (nineteen years and still not in jail). She'd also like to have her lover back from the Appalachian Trail, but first, there's this attempted assassination she has to foil. Rose is sure of only two things: nobody's going to die on her watch, and Max Reddy is going to be back in time to carve the turkey on Christmas Day. Max is walking the Appalachian Trail, which has taken him longer than he'd planned due to the fact that someone is trying to kill him. And that's not even his biggest problem. That would be the thoughts of the woman he left behind distracting him from things like surviving a snowstorm and ducking a Russian from somebody else's past who thinks Max knows the whereabouts of a treasure Max is pretty sure doesn't exist. But he's been wrong before.Then Rose gets serious about death prevention and Max gets back to town to find out there are new people in town, Rose's daughter Poppy is still dealing with PTSD with a side of romance, his buddy Luke really doesn't want to be the law in Rocky Start, and Rose's kitchen, Rose's smile, and Rose's arms are home to him now, a realization that's more terrifying than the killer in the shadows.