His second chance at love is a first chance for her—but not if his children have anything to say about it.

A widower ought to mourn his wife, yet Hamilton Baxter feels only relief after her passing. After enduring thirty years in a miserable marriage, he is finally free to spend his days hidden in a library. But when his son begs for his help distracting his sweetheart’s diligent chaperone, Baxter can’t help but agree—only to discover that the spinster aunt is too appealing for his good.

At two and fifty years of age, marriage and children are beyond her grasp, and Harriet Stillwell is quite content to play the role of chaperone to her motherless nieces. Especially when their beaus are so silly as to think they can distract her from her work.

Yet when one drags his newly widowed father along, Hettie finds it impossible to focus on anything but the amiable, kindhearted man. Who, for some strange reason, seems to admire her.

In the swirl of the Christmas season, this burgeoning romance blossoms, but when Baxter’s children discover their secret courtship, they cannot believe their father would fall for another only a few short months after their mother’s passing.

And they will not stand for it.

Hettie and Baxter must choose—embrace their newfound love or tear apart Baxter’s grieving family. What price is too high for their happiness?