Edwina Ladoux hoped becoming a mail-order bride would be her way out of the war-torn South, but as soon as she arrives in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado, and meets her hulking, taciturn groom, she realizes she's made a terrible mistake. Declan Brodie already had one flighty wife who ran off with a gambler before being killed by Indians.

He's hoping for a practical farm woman who can corral his four rambunctious children. Instead, he gets a skinny Southern princess whose sister Pru cooks until lessons take hold. Rescuing Pru, a shock tears Declan between duty and desire, and Edwina has to fight for the family she's grown to love.