Mail Order Mallory by Jo Grafford

Mallory Price elopes with her childhood sweetheart in post-war Savannah, against her well-to-do family’s wishes, with nothing but a travel bag of dreams and visions of happily-ever-afters in her head. However, tragedy strikes a mere two months later, leaving her a widow with a baby on the way. Crawling back to a family that has disinherited her is not an option, so she leaps at the opportunity to become a mail-order bride. She prays her would-be groom in Dallas is a good man and won’t object to becoming a father in record time.

Former bounty hunter Duke Stratton can think of only one thing he’s missing in his quest to transform himself into a respectable businessman, and that’s the acquisition of a proper wife. There’s one undeniable problem — no high society lady is going to ally herself in holy matrimony to a fellow with his dubious reputation. Thank heavens he discovers a shortcut to the courting process and fills out an application for a mail-order bride.

When Mallory steps off the train, his old bounty hunting instincts go on full alert. Why in tarnation would a woman of her beauty, education, and obvious good breeding agree to such an outlandish marriage proposal? That is, unless she has something to hide… Duke is very good at ferreting out secrets, so he knows it’s only a matter of time before he uncovers Mallory’s. He just hopes it is something he can live with, because he’s never been good at admitting defeat or giving up what’s his.