Les Montagnes - La série

Faire une pause dans ses études, profiter des Montagnes Rocheuses du Colorado, combattre un incendie ou deux. C’est tout ce que Jake Landon souhaitait faire quand il s’était inscrit comme garde forestier. Il s’attendait à trouver comme partenaire un vieux montagnard grincheux. Ils auraient patrouillé les étendues sauvages dans un camion-citerne, échangé trois mots en une journée et le Vieux Croûton n’aurait rien eu de séduisant. Une forêt nationale semblait assez grande pour permettre à Jake de rester au fond du placard. Il pourrait passer le temps en pêchant. Sauf qu’au lieu d’un Vieux Croûton, il se retrouve en équipe avec Kurt Carlson : confiant, compétent et expérimenté. Il est aussi jeune, sexy, amical et trouve que les vêtements sont une option dans la nature. Partager une petite cabane avec cette tentation sur pattes va mettre à l’épreuve la santé mentale de Jake – est-ce qu’il essaie de lui faire passer un message, ou est-il juste Kurt ? Et comment Kurt réagirait-il s’il découvrait que son nouveau partenaire veut allumer un incendie un peu différent, cette fois ? Jake est terrifié – ils vont devoir vivre ensemble pendant cinq mois, quoiqu’il advienne. Le courant passe tellement entre eux qu’ils pourraient mettre le feu aux arbres, mais il faudra un véritable brasier pour que Jake et Kurt admettent qu’ils n’ont pas chaud seulement à cause du feu.

La poudreuse, les pentes magnifiques et les élégants hôtels de la station sélect de Wapiti Creek attirent les experts et les plus fortunés, mais pour Jake Landon et Kurt Carlson, l'attrait vient du travail. Skieur novice, Jake a été assigné au télésiège de la piste pour débutants, mais Kurt craint d'être obligé de pelleter de la neige tout l'hiver. Enseigner dans une école de ski privée devrait être le boulot de ses rêves, mais ce travail provoque les rires et les regards en coin de ses nouveaux amis. Tout l'été, Jake et Kurt sont restés seuls dans la nature. Si Jake voulait rester dans le placard, ça n'avait pas d'importance. Maintenant, ils doivent gérer leur relation en public, et les jumeaux de cinq ans qui ont désigné Jake comme camarade de ski sont aussi nuisibles que le pisteur qui craque pour lui. Les amis potentiels, les collègues vicieux et les périls de la montagne pourraient provoquer la fin de leur couple, mais pour Kurt et Jake, le plus grand danger vient de l'autre.

Every night ski patrol Mark McAvoy relives the avalanche that took a life on his watch. Emotionally fragile and single by choice, he’s aghast at his friends’ taking charge of his social life. Hosting a potluck will at least provide him with a good meal. Invited to the potluck on a whim, Allan Tengerdie catches Mark’s eye—and taste buds. This cuddly chef could be perfect for a lonely, too-thin skier; too bad Allan falls better than he skis. When Allan’s injured and frightened he’ll lose his catering company, he’s afraid to ask too much of a man he barely knows. Mark wants to help but has his own problems. Was the avalanche a tragic accident or cold-blooded murder? His role in the inquiry leaves Mark in trouble at work, at the mercy of the law, and with too much time on his hands. If he clings tightly to Allan, will they be swept away together?

Allan Tengerdie tumbles down easy ski slopes so often that he doesn’t believe Mark McAvoy’s assurances that he’ll enjoy cross-country skiing. Allan didn’t come to a fancy ski resort to trudge on the flats, but if a soft-in-the-middle chef has a chance to keep up with his ski patrol lover, he really ought to try. Allan and Mark have a great time on the trails, but it’s pleasure for which Allan pays dearly. How will Mark convince him to go again?

This is Jake’s first Christmas away from his family, and his first Christmas with Kurt. Jake’s shoestring budget doesn’t matter, because what Kurt wants most can’t be gift wrapped. He’d like to stand openly with Jake as partners before the world, but Jake hasn’t come that far out of the closet. Wapiti Creek is hung everywhere with mistletoe, taunting them both with opportunities not taken. Jake is making a traditional Landon family dish for a Christmas pot-luck dinner with friends, but he’s short a key ingredient. Kurt manages to supply the missing ingredient for Jake’s recipe, but can Jake supply the missing ingredient for Kurt’s happiness?

Jake Landon thinks a second ranger season in the Colorado Rockies with Kurt Carlson is close enough to heaven, and a national forest is big enough to be his closet. Pharmacy school—and the luxuries of electricity and running water—can wait, maybe forever, as long as Jake doesn’t have to come out. He doesn’t plan on Kurt’s vision of his future being as narrow and direct as the single track roads through the trees. “Your future, your fear, and me,” Kurt tells Jake. “You can have two of the three, so choose wisely.” Jake may have no choices left after they stumble on armed men guarding a beautiful but deadly crop that doesn’t belong among the pines and spruces. Angry men with guns are only one danger in the Colorado wilderness, and Jake’s reluctance to come out is now his smallest problem. Kurt’s skills and Jake’s silver tongue may not be enough to get them out of this mess—how much of the blood shed on the mountain will be theirs?

Caddy Gary Richardson hungers for the lush life of the wealthy golfers he escorts around the course at Wapiti Creek. The contrast between his tiny trailer at the edge of a mountain town and the luxurious ski and golf resort is something he’s learned to live with but not like. Gary wants the fancy condo and late-model car not just for himself but for his childhood friend turned lover, Seth Morgan. He’d settle for security for the two of them, but even that seems out of reach. Seth is content with Gary and enough spare cash for greens fees at municipal golf courses. Going pro is beyond his means, even if he plays well enough to win on the championship resort courses. Gary would do anything to fulfill Seth’s dreams, even things he’d rather keep to himself. When an unheard of opportunity knocks, Gary can answer or resign himself to living on tips from affluent tourists. But Seth can’t live with that answer when it means his trust has been betrayed. He has to let go and hope the man he loves will find his way home.