Willow Moran lost everything and everyone she'd ever loved during the Civil War. Her brothers left and her father and mother died. All that remained were her Arabian horses and an obscure letter and map she received from her brother, Matt, who wrote it from the untamed western frontier. With a will of iron, Willow made a plan to find her brother wherever he was in the Rocky Mountains. Once in Denver, about to begin the most harrowing part of her journey, Willow met the tracker who agreed to take her into the Rocky Mountain wilderness: Caleb Black.

Caleb, under the impression that he was escorting a southern belle on a search for her husband into the unpredictable wilds of the mountains, didn't believe for a moment that Willow Moran was married, but decided she was more likely a prostitute. He didn't care, however, because she was going to lead him to the very treasure he sought: Caleb wanted to avenge his own sister's death due to that no good Matthew "Reno" Moran.

As their journey unfolded, the peril and danger they faced was conquered because of their individual courage and unconscious respect for one another. As time passed, and that same respect began to turn into something neither Willow nor Caleb could control, desire developed into a raging fire within them. Once the characters revealed their secrets, neither Willow nor Caleb could harbor any ill will toward the other because they'd forged a bond steeped in respect and love.

Elizabeth Lowell is superb at her craft. She is able to spin a story that her readers can imagine as well as engage in actively, and her hero and heroine are likeable and believable characters. While the conflict in the story was tied into a tight knot, the tension between Willow and Caleb was also tightened until they released the mystery of their attraction, leaving the audience satiated and entertained. I enjoyed Lowell's ONLY HIS. I felt that I was able to connect with the characters and the emotions that they felt. The dialogue, although at times convoluted, and the sequence of events of the novel were believable. I would be likely to reach for another novel by Elizabeth Lowell based on my experience reading ONLY HIS.

Review by Maci Walker
(c) 2004