Doctor of the Hills — Mary Sydney Burk

After two years of hectic family practice in New York, Linda Dawson looks forward to the tranquility of the Colorado Rockies. Disillusioned and exhausted by her career, the young doctor has given herself a year to reevaluate her dedication to medicine. She feels that she will have the time and peace of mind to think over her future as she works at TeePee Valley Ranch -- a combination guest and horse ranch at the edge of a national forest.

She is immediately at ease with the friendly manager of the ranch, Dick Sanders, and his easy-going wife, Janna. Linda enjoys being a general ranch hand as she assists the rest of the staff -- Beth Morrison, who works in the office; Tim VanEggerburg, who comes to seem like a younger brother to her; and Peter MacNeil, the handsome stockman, who is saving to buy his own ranch.

As her year draws to an end Linda realizes that she could never leave the simple sort of life on the ranch and the beauty of the surrounding countryside. She also knows that she could never entirely give up the practice of medicine as long as there was a need for her talents and skills. She has to admit to herself that not a little of her attraction to the ranch is the presence of Pete MacNeil, and she is faced with the question of the importance of her own sense of independence as she falls in love with him.