A peace-loving seamstress. A targeted deputy. A fledgling town in need of brides. ELLA WEAVER is a headstrong cotton farmer's daughter from Galveston, Texas seeking a new life in a small town, miles from senseless conflict and death. But when Ella's traveling companion abandons her mail-order bride arrangement with widower DEPUTY SHERIFF JAMES GARRISON moments after their first meeting, she is left with no money, no prospects, and no way home. James has one more chance to save his family from being torn apart. Otherwise, come spring thaw, his mother-in-law will make good on her threat to drag his only daughter back East to live with her. Marrying Ella might be his and her salvation, so long as he keeps his heart out of the arrangement. But James is a pistol toting lawman—the kind of man Ella swore she'd never marry! His badge makes him her worst nightmare. Or is he? It's the dead of winter and options are running out. Will salvation come from the last man she’d ever trust? What will it cost for lonely hearts to fall in love