Elinor Prescott has come home at last...to Oakleigh, the gracious antebellum mansion that was home to generations of her southern family. But the beautiful old house is a near-ruin and she can't affor to restore it. Elinor hopes to find a buyer who will cherish the home as she does. But she has one rule--she won't sell to handsome, self-made millionaire Cole Whittier.

Cole has the locals upset over his plans to build a factory nearby and Elinor's leading the opposition. He's got a fight on his hands to convince the stubborn beauty of the merits of his plans--and of everything else he discovers he wants to offer her.

It's up to Cole to persuade Elinor to see things from his perspective. The sexy industrialist is convinced that Elinor is well worth winning over.