Julia Hamel always dreamed of a Christmas wedding, and hers would be a dream come true if she wasn’t marrying a man she’d never met. Traveling across the country as a mail-order bride took a leap of faith, and she’s determined to make the best of her new life despite the fact her husband seems to be hiding something. But nothing she does seems to please him, and Matthew’s distant despite her best intentions. When she meets a mischievous old man and takes his advice on how to make her husband happy, his ideas backfire in the worst possible ways, and as Christmas draws closer, Julia begins to think leaving home may have been the worst mistake of her life.

Matthew Bailey never wanted a wife—until he saw Julia. He married her without much thought and hoped her presence would be enough to finally distract him from the fact it was the one time of year he wished he could forget. Painful memories keep him distracted, and when the girl who mistook his kindness for a wedding proposal stirs up trouble, Matthew has to decide what he really wants. If it's Julia, then he has to bare his soul and confront his past, but dredging up those old memories is still painful. Can the love of a woman he knows nothing about be enough to make him want to live again? And will Julia stay once she’s seen the worst in him?