Looking for a similar book i once read.. Can you help? Think black sheep southern romance with a prestigious family and big house/manor/plantation

[Danielle]

Don't you just hate it when you can't remember the name of a book or the author of a book you've read in the past and wish to revisit?.. I have two of those that just keeping nagging at me to find them and i've tried everything i can think of to find them, except this.. The first of the two is a southern romance that is very similar in some ways to Tears of the Renegade so much so, that when i borrowed it from the library i thought i had found it at long last, but no.... Here's what i can remember of the book: it's set in the south.. can't remember what state, the hero is a black sheep, was maybe born on the wrong side of the blanket, so to speak, or his mother was not well liked and married into the family against the families wishes (not sure) the heros father is dead and his mom moved away from the family estate/manor house/plantation whatever it is, there's a carriage house involved somewhere ? The heros mom lives in one? Maybe? The hero is also doing very well for himself. The heroine is tied to the family somehow, she may have married into the family and is now widowed or she maybe works very closely with one of more powerful members of the family, like a PA or something, but i think more the former than the latter... Thats book 1 thats bugging me.. Book 2 thats bugging me i know even less about, a school is being built (i think in a small-ish town) the heroine is a teacher/principal or raising the money to get it built, don't remember which, and the hero is building it or designing it or something and they have sex on a tree stump near the site where the school is being built 😁 hopeful one of you wonderful readers will have a clue about one or both books! Thanks for taking the time to read all this and for any suggestions 😀