Violet Hailey, unwed mother of six year old Priscilla, longs to begin life anew after selling her family farm to the Railroad Commission. To that end, under the guise of being a widow, she travels to Independence, Missouri to join up with a wagon train bound for New Mexico Territory, via the Santa Fe Trail. However, a few days into her journey, she realizes she has been duped in the purchase of her wagon, when it breaks down and cannot be repaired. She is faced with a decision to either forego the dictates of society by sharing the wagon of an unmarried man, or depart the train in the next town. Priscilla Hailey Johansson, daughter of Violet Hailey from book one, is grown up and anticipating her life as a teacher in her small community outside of Santa Fe, in New Mexico Territory. She also hopes to one day marry and raise a family there. When she receives an invitation to join the prestigious Stratford Girl's Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, however, she embarks on a future she never envisioned. Arriving at the St. Louis train station, she is met by Brentley Stratford, the stepson of Mrs. Olivia Stratford, the grand lady who founded the academy. The gentleman is so elegant and handsome that he takes her breath away. Samuel Johansson is blindsided when his twin brother, Saul, confesses to having advertised for a mail order bride, but now wants to renege on his offer of marriage. Apparently, he has reconnected with his childhood sweetheart and finds himself in a pickle--his mail order bride arrives in two days. When Saul asks Samuel to marry her in his stead, Samuel's response is an unqualified NO. However, when he meets the lady everything changes. His rescue instinct begs to differ with his rational mind. Five years after the woman Saul Johansson had expected to spend his life with rejected him and married a wealthy Santa Fe businessman, he meets the spinster who just opened a bookstore in his town. Undeniably, the lady is not his type, but something about her keeps drawing him back to her shop. Could it be their common enjoyment of dime novels filled with action and adventure, or something more? Saul's life is about to become complicated when the woman who rejected him, now a widow, moves back to town and sets her sights on him.