After both her best friends found true love and moved on, Jo realised it was time she made the life-changing decision to resign from her thankless job and lonely life in Sydney and move to the far reaches of Western Queensland.

Following in the footsteps of her friend Sarah at Medora Downs, Jo takes up the job of governess on a neighbouring Outback station, Emerald Hills, and is delighted to discover her charge is a bright, gifted eight-year-old named William.

It's not only William who steals Jo's heart: the rugged beauty of the Outback landscape captivates her, and she soon discovers a secret hideaway at Rainbow Rock, perfect to put her love of painting into practice, and William's genius of geology to the test.

There's only one problem: Jo and William aren't the only ones in on the secrets of the rock. It holds many stories for many people-some beautiful, some frightening-and it doesn't take long before both its splendour and chaos rain down on Emerald Hills.

It is then that Jo finds herself enmeshed in the workings of an underground drug cartel and, at the same time, the magic of a surprise romance, not realising how dangerously entwined both secrets are.