Monday, May 30, 2011

To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Having completed his sentence for the unintentional crime that derailed his youthful plans for fame and fortune, Levi Grant looks to start over in the town of Spencer, Texas. Spencer needs a blacksmith, a trade he learned at his father's knee, and he needs a place where no one knows his past. But small towns leave little room for secrets...

Eden Spencer has sworn off men, choosing instead to devote her time to the lending library she runs. When a mountain-sized stranger walks through her door and asks to borrow a book, she steels herself against the attraction he provokes. His halting speech and hesitant manner leave her doubting his intelligence. Yet as the mysteries of the town's new blacksmith unfold, Eden discovers hidden depths in him that tempt her heart.

Levi's renewed commitment to his faith leads Eden to believe she's finally found a man of honor and integrity, a man worthy of her love. But when the truth about his prodigal past comes to light, can this tarnished hero find a way to win back the librarian's affections?


The Review
My Ranking: 10 out of 10
Ages 14 & up

Having read Head in the Clouds, I was SO excited to receive To Win Her Heart in the mail. The cover was so pretty - with Eden's fine green dress and Levi's strong build, it was a cover that made you wonder what goodness was stored within the pages. Witemeyer did not disappoint with this one! With each page, I became more and more hooked on the story - it was nearly impossible for me to put down! 

Witemeyer's writing style is vivid and extremely easy to understand. Not once did I find myself flipping back to previous pages because I was lost or confused. Perfectly descriptive, Witemeyer's writing style has once again wowed me. 

All of her characters were awesome, but the two main characters, Eden and Levi, were amazing. Few books allow me to understand the character as Witemeyer's do. I felt as if I were entering their lives - joining them on their ride through life, learning lessons along side them. There were several instances where I found myself chuckling at some of the happenings - I always love this in a book, too.

Levi was an awesome hero who I fell in love immediately. He was the perfect example of a gentle giant - I absolutely loved his character! The added twist of him being unable to pronounce his S's was so creative and I really think it added to the story. It was neat watching him trying to come up with other words to use instead of ones that contained S's. It must be challenging! 

Eden was also very likable and I can see why Levi fell in love with her. She was so sweet and reminded me of myself in a lot of ways - one of them being that she LOVED books and discussing their qualities with others. 
What I liked most about Eden was the lesson she learned towards the end of the book. I will not spoil it, but one of the reasons I love Witemeyer's works so much are because of the amazing, unique, and too-little spoken lessons that are placed within the story - it is something that always makes me want to snatch up the next book of hers as soon as it releases.

Another character I really loved was Chloe - she was so funny and I found myself smiling at some of the humorous things she said and did. She definitely was a great add-in to the story!

As for content, this book was pretty clean. There is a bit that involve prostitutes, but it was all very mild and indescriptive. There is just the daughter, 15 years old,  of a prostitute who was attacked by a guy who was paid to "break her in". Little is described though - she simply retold the story and said a guy attacked her and she hit him on the head with a pot. She escaped and was sheltered in someone's house who then was frowned upon a bit for sheltering "someone like that". There also is a scene where a woman has to pretend to draw a man in - both know of the act but it mentions her rubbing her leg against his and flirting. But other than that, there were just brief mentionings of the bar or the women within - nothing else worth mentioning.
Other than that and a bit of violence from a scene where a guy is attacked, there are only a few kisses and embraces - nothing exceedingly sensual at all. 

With an intriguing plot and exceptionally lovable characters, you won't want to miss this novel! I must warn you though - once you pick this one up you won't want to put it down until you turn the last page! Buy this new release today HERE!

2 comments:

Katie Marie said...

Ohhh, this book sounds awesome! Very nice review!

I can't wait to pick it up!

~ Katy

Faith said...

I loved this book!

read the printed word!
Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More