Widowed and left penniless by her husband's bad investments, Boston socialite Devon Wainwright is facing another loveless marriage arranged by her controlling mother, when she receives notice of an inheritance from a little known aunt. In defiance of her mother and filled with romantic notions of the west from dime novels, Devon sets off for Blue Springs, Colorado, to lay claim to her legacy and a new life. If she had known what awaited her, she might have stayed home. From the minute she steps off the stagecoach in Blue Springs, her New England society values clash with the lax morality and lawlessness of the western frontier, and she finds nothing romantic about the lack of decorum and modernity in the former mining town. On top of that, she discovers that her aunt had been harboring a shocking secret. Neither does Cort Templeton resemble the dashing hero of her dime novels. Though undeniably an imposing figure, Devon finds his no-nonsense, taciturn manner disconcerting. For his part, Templeton is somewhat amused by her unrealistic expectations of the west, but he has no time to entertain the pretty redhead's complaints. He has a little matter of an outlaw's vendetta against him to concern him. But when strange and alarming things begin to happen, he is forced to consider that perhaps Devon's "wild imaginings" may not be so wild after all. Over the course of events, harrowing and surprising, they both come to realize that one can't judge a book by its cover.