Handsome plantation owner Wesley Stanford would barely recall the poverty-stricken young girl named Leah Simmons who adored him from afar years ago. Now, in an unexpected twist of fate -- a chance encounter on the Virginia riverfront -- he will become Leah's reluctant husband. Determined to forge a new life in untamed Kentucky, Wesley discovers that the bride he hopes to abandon is passionate, proud, and brave -- and may be the woman he cannot live without.

Book 3 of the James River Trilogy.

Re-read. The best part for me about reading this in the series is seeing Nicole and Regan doing the transformation of Leah.

I think that the way Wesley treats her on the wagon train is dispictable, though!

I'm surprised when I get to the end and start hearing about Mac and Linnet, because I forget Sweetbriar is slightly connected. :)