Carpetbagger's Wife (Harlequin Historical Series, No. 595)

rabck from abxc; good story set just after the civil war. Widowed Caddie and her two children return to her decimated plantation after the war. Her brother-in-law and his wife (who slept with Caddie's husband), greet her but don't want to relinquish the plantation, until a Yankee stranger at gunpoint forces them to. Manning Forbes it the Yankee that killed Caddie's husband in battle. Based on the dying mans words and a letter that Del gives him, Manning decides to be the widow's protector. He marries her, to keep the brother-in-law away, but now she is shunned for marrying a "carpetbagger". But he isn't that - he intends to stay and put the plantation back on track, and provide the wounded vets and other widows with the means to make show more some money with a sawmill and furniture factory. show less

I had to stop reading this book about 2/3 of the way through. I really really tried to finish it, but there were too many "oh woe is me" moments from both the hero and the heroine. It seemed to me that half the story she was whining about falling in love with a yankee, and he was whining about falling in love with her. On to the next book...I'm sure it'll be better.