One
Real Man
by Janette Kenny
One word -- awesome
Publisher:
Kensington Zebra (April 2008)
Janette Kenny’s One Real Man
is a western historical romance full of fiery humor and passion that
will delight readers from beginning to end. Janette Kenny weaves
historical detail and the depths of human emotions into the very heart
fabric of her narrative style and her characters' romance.
Gil Yancy, a gambler and secondary character from One Real Cowboy, heads to Wyoming
thinking he is about to start a new life and put his past behind him
after buying a share of a parcel of land. Gil is about to start a new
life --- but his past is about to haunt him when he runs smack into the
feisty spitfire Josephine Andrews, a woman he met in a Kansas brothel
who hit him over the head and stole his money and disappeared. Forced
together by Josie's husband's business transaction, will Gil and Josie
see beyond betrayal? Josie has kept her Kansas past a secret, starting
a new safe life in Wyoming, or at least a life she thinks is safe until
Gil walks onto Rocky Point Ranch. Can she dare trust this cowboy? If
Gil speaks a word about her past to her uppity neighbors, all her plans
to create a guest ranch for women will be ruined. Does Josie dare
reveal her secrets to the very man who might rob her of her heart and
her most precious possessions? Gil has put aside gambling and his past
mistakes, hoping that his new business venture will prove his father’s
low expectations wrong. Now that his worst nightmare stands before him,
defiant and proud, and ready to complicate his goals, will his passion
for this former calico queen be his undoing or the one risky bet who
brings all the dreams of his heart within his grasp?
The heroine and hero of One Real Man
are outstanding! The fiery and defiant Josie is full of grit. She is a
woman of action and yet underneath she is a wounded soul, tender and
steadfast in her loyalty to family. Handsome, sexy, and tough, Gil is
the quintessential cowboy and romance hero. His friendship with Everett
Andrews, Josie’s husband, reveals a western and male code of honor that
underlies his actions to others. In Gil’s character, Janette Kenny
reveals the real man behind the western myth, a man torn by loyalties
and a desire to carve out a new prosperous life in the backdrop of past
personal and national misfortune. One Real Man is filled with humor
and suspense as the reader knows certain facts before the characters
and delights in watching the characters discover the truth and sees
their reaction. The written narrative style reminds one of the beauty
of oral stories so common in the western setting. One Real Man is just so much fun to
read to another person, both for the reader and the listener. As the
plot thickens and the characters interact and reveal their pasts, the
tone changes and a rich emotional depth emerges.
One Real Man
makes the western period of American history come alive. The reader
feels the geography of the west as the Wyoming wind and dust make
tactile her landscape. The Panic of 1893, the worst economic crisis to
date in American history, undergirds the history preceding the opening
of One Real Man, giving a realistic urgency to the financial motives of
the characters. In the background the reader feels the influence of The
Pullman Railway strike which halted all traffic to the west. One Real Man reveals some of the
hard issues historical women faced such as brothels and abuse and in
doing so, creates a thematic structure where real love emerges as
connection that respects and truly cherishes the beloved. Gil emerges
as a real man and a wonderful romance hero --- one who respects, loves,
and truly cherishes a woman for all she is. One Real Man is simply awesome!
Janette Kenny is a rising star in the western historical romance genre.
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