SOLVED. Historical Romance Hero's Name Possibly Lance

[Christine]

I read this book maybe 15 years ago. I don't remember the name of the book or the author. It is a historical romance possibly set in America in the 1800's. It is sequel to another book.

I think the male leads name is Lance. He is very wealthy. He has blonde hair. He was in love with a woman, who I think was a cousin or a second cousin. She died. Many years later Lance sees a woman who is the double of the woman who died. The double's father dies, and she is penniless. Lance sees this as an opportunity to ingratiate himself with her. He steps in and pays for her father's funeral and other expenses. They marry. I don't remember if she is in love with him before they marry, or if she falls in love with him after they marry. He is not in love with her, he sees her as a replacement for the woman he lost. His family are unhappy about what he is doing, they feel that Lance shouldn't be using one woman to replace another. They think he is being unfair to the female lead. She is constantly wanting to sleep with him, she wants sex all the time, Lance thinks it is because she knows subconsciously that he is not in love with her.

Because of the very close resemblance between the female lead and the dead woman, Lance does some investigating and finds out the female lead is a distant relation of his family, which explains the resemblance. This book is a sequel to another book. Lance is the descendant of the woman in the prequel.

The prequel is mainly from the point of view of the female lead who is very wealthy. I'm fairly sure she has red hair and possibly golden eyes. She is an only child raised by her father to be a ruthless businesswoman. She meets the male lead who she considers to be beneath her financially and socially. He loves her and wants to marry her. She basically laughs at him and tells him to get lost. He kidnaps her and keeps her prisoner with the plan to get her pregnant so she will have to marry him. I don't remember what else happens. Lance is their descendant.

[Christine]

Found it. Star Of The West by Constance Conant. Didn't find it via google search. The hero's name is Lance Randall, so I don't know why it didn't come up on my google search using lance as a key word.