A Man to Call My Own
A Novel
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3.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey comes a love story as passionate and tumultuous as the old American West, about an heiress who discovers passion in the arms of a Texas cowboy.
Amanda and Marian Laton are identical twins but they are as different as night and day. Amanda is beautiful but nasty, and Marian is kind but plain—purposely so to avoid provoking her spiteful twin’s jealousy. When their wealthy father suddenly dies, the two gently reared New England heiresses are sent to live with their aunt on a sprawling Texas ranch. There the twins meet Chad Kinkaid, the cowboy son of a neighboring rancher.
Marian is fascinated by Chad’s rugged good looks and his sheer masculinity, but she knows that like every other man she and her twin have met, he will pursue Amanda, not her. Chad is indeed beguiled by Amanda’s beauty, but soon he begins to see beyond Marian’s carefully constructed dowdy façade. Unlike the tame gentlemen back East, after witnessing Marian’s taste for adventure, her sense of humor and bravery in the face of danger, Chad finds himself wanting her. But how can he, a man who’s just a cowboy without fancy airs or urbane charm, convince her she’s the only woman for him?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Amanda and Marian Laton are identical twins who couldn't be more different. Amanda, the apple of her father's eye, is a spoiled, jealous young woman; sweet-hearted Marian, in an effort to be as unlike her sister as possible, strives to make herself plain and undesirable. Set in the 1870s, this historical romance by the prolific Lindsey begins when Amanda and Marian's father dies in their hometown of Haverhill, Mass., and the twins are shipped off to Texas. Under the provisions of their father's will, they cannot claim their inheritances until they are married, and in the meantime they must live with their aunt, Kathleen Dunn, a widowed rancher nicknamed Red. Life on the ranch is much too rustic for Amanda, but Marian enjoys the country living and her brushes with Chad Kinkaid, heir to a ranching fortune, who is lending Red a helping hand. Hiding behind thick-lensed spectacles she doesn't need, Marian tries to deflect Chad, afraid that if she shows an interest in him her mean-spirited twin will lure him away. Slapstick catfights and anachronistic language ("it wasn't just the jealousy issues") give the novel a farcical slant; on the plus side, there is plenty of western kitsch: a train robbery, an attempted kidnapping and an old-fashioned barbecue. Concluding with an improbable surprise ending that is most unsatisfying and rather bitter for a historical romance, this is a clunky if occasionally entertaining effort that nonetheless will sell as Lindsey is wont to do that is, a lot.
