One Heart to Win by Johanna Lindsey Also in this series: Wildfire In His Arms, Marry Me by Sundown
Series: Callahan-Warren, #1
Published by Gallery Books on June 11th 2013
Genres: Historical Romance, American West
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 1476714304
Some young ladies marry for money and social standing, a few lucky ones marry for love, but Tiffany Warren is marrying to end a feud. Honoring her mother's promise, Tiffany reluctantly travels west to meet her estranged father and his enemy's eldest son, rancher Hunter Callahan. Once the Warrens and the Callahans are united by marriage, both clans will stop squabbling over a disputed strip of land.
In the chaos of a train robbery, Tiffany seizes a golden opportunity: By assuming the identity of her father's new housekeeper, she can live with the father she never knew and assess his true character, as well as that of the neighboring cowboy to whom she is betrothed. But, too late, Tiffany discovers that the rivalry between the Warrens and the Callahans has escalated when the Callahans steal the Warrens' housekeeper as soon as she steps off the train!
Now, Tiffany, who is pretending to be Jennifer Fleming, finds herself living in the enemy camp, under the same roof as her fiancé. All too soon she learns her intended is a handsome, sweet talking charmer whom she has to fight off because he can't keep his eyes—or his hands—off Jennifer.
After Tiffany's charade is exposed, she refuses to marry Hunter to end the feud.
As Hunter goes about claiming his rightful bride-to-be, he knows that although he loves two women—proper, elegant Tiffany as well as spunky, passionate Jennifer—he has only one heart to win.
<
My Review
Tiffany has recently turned eighteen, and her mother informs her that she has a fiancee, and that she will be going to Montana, to meet him, and marry him so that the rivalry between the Warren’s and the Callahans stop and there can be a peace between the families. The last thing that Tiffany wants is to marry a stranger, but she promised her mother she would give it two months. There is also another reason she doesn’t want to go out west, meeting her father. She has never met him or seen him before in her life, and to this day is still hurt that he never cared enough to meet him. Her parents marriage fell apart when she was little, but her mother refuses to tell her the real reason. While on the train there is a train robbery, and she sees brutality and murder, and wonders what more will be in store for her. Tiffany has come up with a plan when she meets the housekeeper her father had sent, but the housekeeper decides to go back home. So Tiffany decides to take the housekeeper’s place in her fathers home, to get to know the real man. What she didn’t expect is to practically be taken by the Callahan brothers, who insist she work for them. When they become very insistent she goes along with it, deciding this might be the best option to get to know her fiancee and his family under all the pretenses. Warren Callahan is the oldest son, and as such, he is to be married to the Warren daughter. Which is the last thing that he wants, especially when he meets the most beautiful woman, the new housekeeper. He can’t deny the sizzling attraction between them, and even though he knows he has other responsibilities, he starts to realize he wants to keep “Red” for himself and will do everything he can to convince her.
Johnanna Lindsey is one of my top favorite authors, now the last few books that I have read from her have been a bit floozy, however One Heart To Win made me feel like Lindsey is back, a little away. This story wasn’t as intense as some of her other earlier books, however I really enjoyed the theme and style that this story is written. I got this on Audible, Now normally Audio books I can drag out for 4-7 days or sometimes more. This story is about 10 hours long, and I was able to listen to it in about a day and a half. I loved it so much. The narrator for the story is Meredith Mitchell, and did a outstanding job when describing emotions that play during the book. The story begins with learning some background information, and in the beginning I wasn’t sure if I would like Tiffany as the heroine, she just seemed so flighty at times, but she proved herself many a time. I really loved the style of this “Arranged Marriage” which turned out way different than it normally does. It takes on a whole Disguise turn as well. From the moment that Tiffany hides her true identity and goes to work for the Callahans, I knew this would be fun seeing how long she could keep the pretense up. There is a bit of a mystery involved concerning the true reason for the separation between Tiffany’s parents, and as the story progresses you start to piece everything together. The story is rich and full of passion, plenty drama and creativity, and sensational storytelling that is only Johanna Lindsey style.
The characters in this story were heartwarming, even the side characters find a place in the readers heart. Warren is just *sigh* lovely and sexy and I wanted to keep him for myself. Warren is very confident, knows plenty about women, and what I would give to trade with Tiffany. Even though she is just the housekeeper and cook, Warren can’t resist her, and the sizzling desire doesn’t take very long to become evident. I loved the way Warren is with Tiffany, he laughs and is playful with her, and has a adventurous side to him. He never failed to disappoint, my favorite character by far. Now Tiffany, it took a little while for me to find her likable, but she started to grow on me. You can’t help but feel amused by the situation she has put herself in. She is from the big city, where there are balls and parties, and propriety, but then she comes out west and she makes friend with a piglet, learns to cook when she has never even boiled water, and learns how to rope a cow. She definitely becomes endearing after some time, because with this secret identity she has going on, she is forced to do things she never though she would ever do. In the beginning you see how she doesn’t plan on ever marrying Warren but when he starts to slowly seduce her, she is flattered, but is jealous of herself, which was quite funny. It was lovely seeing the different families, and their unique personalities that complimented the book.
I have to say that I do hope that Lindsey turns this into a series, I definitely wouldn’t mind more westerns from her. Lately though she hasn’t had a series but there is much yummy material here to do a series on these two families for sure. FYI she does have another Malory novel coming out next summer which should be fun. Overall I fell in love with One Heart To Win, and only after a few chapters, this book had me totally captivated, and impossible to put down. I enjoyed every moment, and it was filled with adventure, unique storytelling, enchanting characters and sizzling passion. UNFORGETTABLE!!! I recommend to any romance lover that loves a enticing western that is first rate!!
My Grade
5 Blossoms
Heat Rating
Steamy
0 Comments