Owen Cooper had been a hell raising gambler -- forced to mend his ways and reform when he married the very idealistic Renée. Now a single-father and respectable member of the town, he's alternately grateful and exasperated by the well meaning intrusion of the local womenfolk. These women were there to help watch his daughter Élodie while he worked and for that he was thankful. However, their repeated attempts at matchmaking made him uncomfortable, to say the least. Knowing he was solely responsible for his daughter's well being after the loss of his wife, he decided to live an exemplary life -- pretty much avoiding anything remotely pleasurable. So far his plan was working.

Daisy Walsh, an author, spent a lot of time on tour with her manager, Conrad, at various speaking engagements to promote her book on homemaking and cookery. This last train trip was giving her problems, in particular she was experiencing disturbing periods of illness and nausea and Conrad was a less than gracious traveling companion. She was so looking forward to a little vacation time with her brother, Thomas, away from Conrad's constant belittling comments. But now it seemed her plans were going to be delayed indefinitely by Conrad. Unknown to Daisy, her brother ran a raffle in his newspaper with her as the prize -- oh not literally, but her expertise as a homemaker and cook. In a moment of defiance, Daisy decides to take a giant leap of faith, not to mention a daring stab at independence, and embarks on a vacation on her own. Luckily she finds her way to Morrow Creek and finds herself the center of attention of some rather unsavory men who entered her brother's raffle thinking the prize was a bride for a week. But for some gathered, Daisy was just what they were looking for. Owen needed help with his young daughter and a group of determined town's women knew Daisy was just the ticket. Now the problem was convincing Owen. Daisy is instantly taken with Élodie but dealing with Owen and his gruff ways will truly be a challenge. She is going to have to dredge up every bit of confidence to take on this father and daughter even if just for a short while. Life has a funny way of testing you and the rewards are sometimes greater than you can imagine.

Lisa Plumley takes you back to a time when women were just beginning to come into their own. But evidently even then some men felt oblige to control women by denigrating their worthiness as anything other than a wife and mother. Plumley makes sure to keep the stakes high and hang the rules in .

Book Summary

Will he claim his prize?

Famous home-keeping expert Daisy Walsh is overwhelmed by the warm welcome she receives in Morrow Creek, and then she realizes she's the star prize in the town raffle! She can bet the lucky winner's not expecting a pregnant woman who needs a place to stay.

Single father Owen Cooper suspects he's been set up because his daughter is thrilled to have a woman around the house. He could get used to the smell of home baking tempting his taste buds, but the sight of Daisy's stockings is one temptation too far!