When Heather Flowers realizes she's been taking care of her mother for more than ten years, and her mother is only pretending to be sick, she decides it's time for her to leave and start a new life elsewhere. At the suggestion of her mother's doctor, she seeks out Elizabeth Tandy, who's known for sending women out west to be mail-order brides.

Patrick O'Brien loves his life as a rancher in Clover Creek, Idaho, but with only his mother for companionship, he gets lonely. Ready to start a family and give his mother the grandchildren she craves, he sends a letter to a matchmaker back east to find him a bride.

When Heather arrives, she realizes that her life felt almost idyllic. She's married to a wonderful man, and she gets along well with her mother-in-law.

But then her mother arrives, pretending to be someone she isn't. Will their marriage be able to stand her interfering mother? Or will Patrick never trust Heather again?