Adela’s Solemn Vow by Nancy Fraser

Will a case of mistaken identity leave Adela McIntyre alone in an unfamiliar town with no way to fend for herself?

When her long-time employer decides to move back to England, twenty-six-year-old lady’s companion, Adela McIntyre, finds herself out of a job. She’s offered the opportunity to marry a well-to-do banker who works for her employer’s family holdings in the small town of Comstock, Colorado. Given her marital prospects at her advanced age are few and far between, Adela eagerly accepts.
After all, who wouldn’t want to embark on a westward adventure, and a new marriage, at the same time?
Her intended groom believes he’s agreed to marry the heiress granddaughter of his bank’s founder and, upon meeting Adela, he rejects her for his own nefarious reasons. Alone in a strange town, Adela is desperate for employment and a place to live.
Keenan (Key) Bristol is the town’s new marshal. This is his fifth assignment in the past four years and, as promised by his bosses, his last transfer. Maybe now, he can put down roots and eventually settle in with a wife and a family. Although the town is small, there are a few young, single women of faith who won’t mind living on a lawman’s salary.

The arrival of the posh woman from Boston has the town in a stir, and Key’s thoughts going where they shouldn’t. Why, when all he wants is a simple life, is he attracted to the one woman he can surely never win?