Nine years ago Ethan Powell gave up his rodeo career, his Arizona ranch, his family—and most important, his high school sweetheart—to join the Marines.

He's returned an injured hero, determined to let nothing keep him from going back to a job he loves—breaking horses. Getting back in the saddle is something he needs to do, to prove to himself he can. Breaking horses and breaking her heart again? No way! Caitlin Carmichael isn't ready to pick up where she and Ethan left off, no matter how devastating his kisses are.

She isn't the same carefree risk taker she used to be. This time the two-feet-solidly-on-the-ground nurse is proceeding with caution. So what is it about Ethan and his daredevil ways that's making her long to have him as her Christmas cowboy—for now and every Christmas to come?