He had the snarl of a wounded grizzly and the gentle touch of a healer. But who was the surly stranger next door? His blatant masculinity alarmed widow Beth Lannigen. Yet behind her neighbor's icy glare she saw a longing that warmed her own barely healed heart. For Christmas, Beth set out to make her handsome neighbor smile!

Logan Ward needed solitude, not the holiday cheer of a petite blond angel and her too-cute son. But soon he was listening for Beth's knock at his door. Around mother and child, Logan felt like the hero he'd once been called - and that was dangerous for a man whose heart was slowly coming out of hiding....