A Christmas Vow by Kate Condie

She can’t trust herself to fall in love again. He can’t ask a woman to join him in his pitiful existence. But will forced proximity and the spirit of Christmas be too powerful for their stubborn hearts? Grit and hard work are all Hugh Morris has even known. Marriage and children are indulgences he can’t afford. That is, until city-girl Edna Archer arrives at Aster Ridge Ranch and shakes Hugh’s resolve. When peril strikes, Hugh realizes the stakes are higher than he ever could have dreamed and vows he will risk everything to keep Edna safe. Edna isn’t afraid of hard work, she knows the true enemy is love. Away from Chicago and the heartbreak that still haunts her, Aster Ridge offers a new kind of life—one she's determined to live independently. Hugh Morris is an unwelcome temptation. But when the handsome, determined cowboy is tasked with delivering Edna home for Christmas, can she resist the pull to become more than friends? In the unforgiving Montana wilderness, where the winters are cold and the blizzards fierce, a Christmas catastrophe holds the promise of blazing, unforgettable love… A Christmas Vow is sixth in the Aster Ridge Ranch series, after A Secret Brother’s Vow. It is a clean romance and can be read as a standalone.