Heiress

Janet Dailey

Language: English

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: Apr 1, 2014

Description:

New York Times Bestseller: Two Texan half sisters battle over their father’s fortune, risking their relationships with the men who love them.****

Standing over her father’s coffin, Abbie Lawson wonders if he ever actually loved her. Yes, he’d given her wealth, a place in the top echelon of Houston society, and horses—a farm full of Arabians—but not his attention. On those important family occasions, he was always away on business in California. And then Abbie sees why . . .

On the fringe of the crowd of mourners at the funeral is a woman whose face nearly mirrors her own—a second daughter. And, as if that betrayal isn’t enough, she discovers that her father has left his money to the interloper. Abbie has the Arabians, but not the money to support them. As she witnesses her rival’s rise in the Texas social scene, a tall, rough-hewn oil man named MacCrea Wilder enters her life. She doesn’t need the distraction, but there’s something about his sinewy arms that keeps her mind circling back to his kiss. Yet, as the years pass, even love may be sacrificed to the bitterness between these two women.

With over 300 million books sold, Janet Dailey is one of the great names in fiction. In Heiress, she tells the story of half sisters trapped in a bitter rivalry, providing the “solid entertainment” that made her famous (Publishers Weekly).

**

From Publishers Weekly

In her 13th novel, Dailey (Santiago Blue polishes her popular style to a high sheen. Born into a wealthy Texas family, Abby Lawson grows up on the beautiful, sprawling ranch where her father Dean breeds Arabian horses; in California, her illegitimate sister Rachel aches for the father she rarely sees. After the two square off at Dean's funeral, Abby's initial anger turns to shock when she finds Rachel has inherited while she and her mother not only are saddled with debts but lose their home to the interloper, who marries well and promptly sets out to duplicate the life her half-sister has enjoyed all along. The bitterness between the two escalates yearly as they cross paths and swords, using husbands, lovers and children as ammunition in their war. Dailey doesn't hesitate to make full use of the cliches of the commercial fiction genre, but her wit, imagination and creation of a sardonic male romantic lead constitute solid entertainment. First serial to Cosmopolitan; Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Abbie Lawson didn't know about Rachel Farr until their mutual father died, but the revelation explains everything. Her father had never really loved her; she was just a substitute for Rachel, and Rachel was no less resentful of Abbie. The two women had one thing in common their passion for Arabian horses. When both pursue the same goal of an Arabian breeding farm, they set themselves on a fatal collision course. Shelley Thompson has a more than competent Texas drawl and is as easy with sophisticate as she is with farmhand. Unfortunately, her skills only serve to illustrate the tiresome nature of the story and its two-dimensional characters. Nevertheless, with several romances, little sex, and less profanity, this is a good selection for the older set who remember Dailey (Calder Pride) in her heyday. Recommended for large popular fiction collections. Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Jamaica Plain, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.