Roses and lace,  a church filled with smiling relatives, and a handsome gentleman waiting down the aisle. This was the dream Roslyn Roseberry cherished as a girl. What she got is a dusty yard, leering men with six shooters, and a bloody rancher with a gun shoved to the back of his head.

Beauregard Kellington keeps to himself, working with his horses, ignoring the prejudiced slurs from the local townsfolk. Discovering the woman he once called a friend beaten bloody in her family barn, he can no longer ignore her suffering. He offers his help, knowing to do so invites the wrath of her racist father. Caught by a lynch mob, Beau reluctantly marries Roslyn under the watchful barrel of a rifle, knowing they made her a wife this heartbeat to make her a widow the next. When the world goes black, it's a hell of a surprise when he wakes.

Arranged marriages are tricky – forced ones doomed to failure. Except, Roslyn and Beauregard find being tied to each other rather perfect much to the horror of their kin. Backs against the wall, Lyn and Beau refuse to separate. They fight for the life they paid for with blood and pain. Holding out for the greatest gift of all ... love.