A university professor finds her heart wrangled by the surprisingly protective rancher she meets at the local saloon, in this swoony cowboy romance.

One week before beginning her job as a visiting professor at the University of Montana, Molly Parker arrives in Bitterroot Valley with no car (a massive pothole down the road blew out two of her tires), no place to stay (her rental won’t be ready for another few days), and no boyfriend (she caught him cheating right before they planned to make this move together). She’s already decided this school year will be her last by the time she enters Johnny’s Saloon—but in walks rugged local rancher and single dad Gabe Haverson, and their instant connection makes Molly think her time out west may not be so bad after all.

Between sunny days spent riding horses in the mountains with Gabe, and starry evenings sharing family dinners at the Haverson’s ranch house, Molly begins to see Bitterroot Valley as a place where she could make a new home for herself—and Gabe begins to see Molly as the woman he would want to come home to.

But underneath that vast Big Sky, they’re completely star-crossed. Gabe could never leave the land his family’s worked for almost two hundred years, and Molly’s time in Montana is ticking. When she receives a chance at her dream job thousands of miles away, Molly and Gabe must decide if they’re ready to hitch their wagons together or if they’ll be riding their separate ways.

Story Locale:Montana