Cassie Griffin is standing heartbroken and pregnant over her husband’s freshly dug grave when the suitors start fighting for her hand in marriage. Montana territory in 1875 is a harsh place for a woman on her own, but Cassie wasn’t expecting to have to choose a new husband when the old one isn’t even cold in the ground. Through the crowd she sees Red Dawson, maybe not the man of her dreams, but kind and hardworking. Neither of them wants to get married, but they know it must be done to save her from men who are more interested in her land than her well-being.

Although the story starts with a sad and brutal theme, Montana Rose becomes the hopeful and often humorous tale of a woman learning to trust her instincts and her husband, as well as a reluctant husband learning to appreciate his wife’s previously untapped talents for being a good ranch wife and a loving companion.