Heaven in a Wildflower

A rabidly Southern belle and her Cajun lover have a standard on-again, off-again relationship in Hagan's ( Midnight Rose ) trite romance. Free-spirited Anjele, daughter of Louisiana plantation owner Elton Sinclair, falls for Brett ``Gator'' Cody, one of her father's employees, and they secretly become lovers. Alas, Anjele's spiteful and ill-tempered adopted sister Claudia learns of it and reveals all. After tricking the lovers into thinking that each has betrayed the other, Elton drives Gator off the plantation and ships Anjele to an English boarding school to instill discipline. After the Civil War breaks out and her mother dies, Anjele runs a blockade to return to a sadly changed home: her lonely father guards a secret that could be important to the Confederacy. Soon a prowler murders Elton and attacks Anjele, who is blinded as a result. Meanwhile Gator, who becomes a spy for the Union Army, is sent on assignment right back to the woman on whom he wants to avenge himself: Anjele, whom both North and South suspect may have learned her father's confidence before his death. (Mar.)