I am looking for a book I read a long time ago. It was definitely published before 1999. The heroine is originally from England and has a minor English title I believe. She travels to America to marry a rich man because her family is broke and I believe her father had recently died. The man she is to marry is an old rich guy and a pretty nasty. He wants to marry her because she is an English lady and this will bring prestige to his name. He has a son with a woman from a local Native American tribe. I believe she is deceased at the time of the story. He really treated his son's mother horribly too. When the heroine arrives she meets his son who is half Native American and does not really like her groom.I think the son picked her up from where her ship docked to take her to his father. She begins to develop feelings for him along the trip. The heroine tries to deny her love for the hero, but eventually her husband dies and they are able to marry. I also believe that the relations between the white Americans and Native Americans is also a theme in the book. And at the end the hero acts as a liaison between these two groups of people. I want to say that this story took place in an Eastern city or that by the end the hero and heroine move to a Eastern city to live and leave the memories of his father behind.

(Note:  I personally haven't read this book - but found the description on another book site - sounds like a good one, would appreciate any suggestions - and will leave same for the original poster)

sounds close to Savage Thunder by Johanna Lindsey. not all the facts fit this book but many of them do.

back blurb of Savage Thunder:

Newly widowed after a shockingly brief marriage to an elderly British lord, Jocelyn Fleming still aches with the pain of unexplored desire. And now her restless heart is leading her far from the protective bosom of polite London society to the perilous beauty of the American West . . .and to Colt Thunder.
Breathlessly exciting but dangerously unpredictable, Colt is a loner whose Cheyenne blood burns hotter than the blistering Arizona sun. Jocelyn\'s wealth and title mean nothing to this strange whose passion rules his actions and his heart. But neither the wild desert stallion nor the untouched English rose can deny their irresistible attraction. . .or prevent the firestorm of emotion that erupts when their vastly different worlds collide.

Thank you for that suggestion - I passed it along.  

The original searcher says SAVAGE THUNDER is not her book.  

-- Any more suggestions?

I added a list of books about mail-order brides on the thread on Abe.

I wonder though, how many of them have British mail order brides, that's the kicker.   Do any of the romance or fiction websites have a search engine that could narrow it down that way? 

There was one that I read that had a British heroine. I just remember that the hero was mean to the heroine, but I don't remember anything about having a Indian son. I do remember that her father had died. I just can't remember the title or author. I just remember that I really didn't care for the book. I want to say that the hero's name is Jed or something along those lines.