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One Man's Heart
Hilma and Buck had met by chance in circumstances of danger and embarrassment.
Both of them believed that love was well lost for money, although they had no money and fell in love with each other. If they ran true to their beliefs, they would say goodbye and pursue their preordained courses.
Could they?
Both of them believed that love was well lost for money, although they had no money and fell in love with each other. If they ran true to their beliefs, they would say goodbye and pursue their preordained courses.
Could they?
187 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
10 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Mary Burchell
162 books84 followersIda Cook was born on 1904 at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland, England. With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook (1901), she attending the Duchess' School in Alnwick. Later the sisters took civil service jobs in London, and developed a passionate interest in opera. The sisters helped 29 jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.
As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.
As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 30, 2013
Quirky, fun and zany. I felt like I was right smack dab in the middle of a 1940's movie flick with Hepburn and Grant....It so had that "Philadelphia Story" feel to it.
A young woman mistakenly breaks and enters into the wrong apartment where she is greeted by Mr. Gorgeous, our hero. Of course, Mr. Gorgeous (kind of the Ray Milland or Cary Grant type...you pick) wants to know what the H E $ # is she doing.
Seems our heroine, needs to recover a letter that she regrettably wrote 5 years ago to a man who is now blackmailing her. But, somehow she screwed up apartments by one floor. Our heroine is engaged to a very wealthy man (with an elite family background) who would not be too keen on the contents of the letter becoming public. Mr. Gorgeous is also engaged to OW, who is also beautiful and wealthy. Both H/h have purposely set their caps on marrying well. (adventurers that they are)
There's a murder thrown into the mix that adds some mystery and there are lots of quirky and accidental incidents that keep things humming.
If you are a Burchell fan, or an old movie buff like myself, I think you will really like this one.
A young woman mistakenly breaks and enters into the wrong apartment where she is greeted by Mr. Gorgeous, our hero. Of course, Mr. Gorgeous (kind of the Ray Milland or Cary Grant type...you pick) wants to know what the H E $ # is she doing.
Seems our heroine, needs to recover a letter that she regrettably wrote 5 years ago to a man who is now blackmailing her. But, somehow she screwed up apartments by one floor. Our heroine is engaged to a very wealthy man (with an elite family background) who would not be too keen on the contents of the letter becoming public. Mr. Gorgeous is also engaged to OW, who is also beautiful and wealthy. Both H/h have purposely set their caps on marrying well. (adventurers that they are)
There's a murder thrown into the mix that adds some mystery and there are lots of quirky and accidental incidents that keep things humming.
If you are a Burchell fan, or an old movie buff like myself, I think you will really like this one.
May 2, 2013
Mary Burchell and her sister saved Jews from the Nazis during World War II, funded largely by her writing. She wrote novels from 1936 to 1985. She was my favorite romance writer when I discovered romance novels in my teens. I've been rereading and reviewing a box of her books that I kept.
One Man's Heart is one of her best. It is a highly unusual vintage Harlequin romance. We meet the heroine, Hilma, as she establishes an alibi before breaking into a man's flat. A few years earlier, she wrote a compromising letter to a man. Now, she is engaged to a dull, rich, older man who would not understand or forgive the letter. She is breaking in to steal it back. Only she has chosen the wrong flat, and she is caught by the man who lives there.
Although he threatens to call the police, they feel an immediate attraction. When she explains why she has broken in, he understands. He himself, in danger of losing his ancestral home, is also engaged - to a charming, rich, cold woman who wishes to buy the ancestral home and its owner too.
They part without knowing each other's names, but as they move in the same social circles they run into each other. There are ramifications from the night they met that threaten both of their engagements. And their growing attraction to each other is harder and harder to resist. They resist because they both want money and neither has any.
Hilma and Buck are two attractive scoundrels, not normally the heroine and hero of a genre romance. They have surprising depth, one of Mary Burchell's strengths. I recommend One Man's Heart to anyone who enjoys vintage genre romance.
One Man's Heart is one of her best. It is a highly unusual vintage Harlequin romance. We meet the heroine, Hilma, as she establishes an alibi before breaking into a man's flat. A few years earlier, she wrote a compromising letter to a man. Now, she is engaged to a dull, rich, older man who would not understand or forgive the letter. She is breaking in to steal it back. Only she has chosen the wrong flat, and she is caught by the man who lives there.
Although he threatens to call the police, they feel an immediate attraction. When she explains why she has broken in, he understands. He himself, in danger of losing his ancestral home, is also engaged - to a charming, rich, cold woman who wishes to buy the ancestral home and its owner too.
They part without knowing each other's names, but as they move in the same social circles they run into each other. There are ramifications from the night they met that threaten both of their engagements. And their growing attraction to each other is harder and harder to resist. They resist because they both want money and neither has any.
Hilma and Buck are two attractive scoundrels, not normally the heroine and hero of a genre romance. They have surprising depth, one of Mary Burchell's strengths. I recommend One Man's Heart to anyone who enjoys vintage genre romance.
December 30, 2022
What do you do when you meet your soul-mate too late. Hilma is engaged to the very nice, very rich, Roger when an old flame decides to blackmail her over a compromising letter she wrote years ago.
Not being one to let herself be blackmailed, Hilma decides to burgle his flat while he is away one weekend. All goes well until she is rummaging in his desk and a stranger appears. It was the wrong flat, but the man may well be the right man.
Buck is engaged as well, to an heiress. As they fill in time before making the attempt to burgle the upstairs flat, they discover they have a lot in common. They are in fact, both adventurers, marrying for money.
The night is complicated when the police arrive to investigate the murder of the man upstairs, the blackmailer, and in the midst of this, Buck's fiancee's cousin turns up.
However all good things must come to an end and the two must part without knowing each other's name.
But fate has another card to play and Buck and Hilma find themselves bumping into each other and having to sort out the complications of the night in order to save each other's engagement.
This is a very sweet book with not a great deal of action but it draws you into the problem of two people with very good reasons for marrying for money who nevertheless wish they could throw it all away for love.
Not being one to let herself be blackmailed, Hilma decides to burgle his flat while he is away one weekend. All goes well until she is rummaging in his desk and a stranger appears. It was the wrong flat, but the man may well be the right man.
Buck is engaged as well, to an heiress. As they fill in time before making the attempt to burgle the upstairs flat, they discover they have a lot in common. They are in fact, both adventurers, marrying for money.
The night is complicated when the police arrive to investigate the murder of the man upstairs, the blackmailer, and in the midst of this, Buck's fiancee's cousin turns up.
However all good things must come to an end and the two must part without knowing each other's name.
But fate has another card to play and Buck and Hilma find themselves bumping into each other and having to sort out the complications of the night in order to save each other's engagement.
This is a very sweet book with not a great deal of action but it draws you into the problem of two people with very good reasons for marrying for money who nevertheless wish they could throw it all away for love.
November 11, 2007
One of my favorite Mary Burchells - it begins with Alma determinedly breaking into the apartment of a man who is blackmailing her. Unfortunately, she miscalculates and enters the one immediately below, where she meets a charming stranger who is rightfully skeptical of her. Even worse, the blackmailer is murdered, and Alma is suspected of involvement. Will the mysterious stranger protect her from the police? Can their strange attraction survive both their odd introduction and the fact that Alma is engaged to be married?
March 28, 2023
Not a great plot. Too much deception, too many glib lies, etc.
January 1, 2023
The whole book until the last page they were engaged to other people! The h and H were actually the OM and OW for the whole book! They were not lovey dovey but they were fighting the attraction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2023
I'm not sure if this is really a five-star read or not, but it's such a wonderful break from tradition that I gave it five stars anyway. Hilma meets a mysterious gentleman while attempting to burgle her blackmailer; the two of them are instant friends, but they're both engaged - and engaged for monetary reasons- so romance is, of course, impossible. Every so often with Burchell's novels one gets the sense that she'd rather be writing about someone other than her main characters - a more interesting but less Standard Romance Archetypal Lead character - and in this book she very definitely did so.
October 4, 2025
Quite an out-of-the-box story involving two adventurers who meet while breaking and entering and all the zany coincidences that follow.
January 3, 2023
Hilma and Buck had met by chance in circumstances of danger and embarrassment.
Both of them believed that love was well lost for money, although they had no money and fell in love with each other. If they ran true to their beliefs, they would say goodbye and pursue their preordained courses.
Could they?
Both of them believed that love was well lost for money, although they had no money and fell in love with each other. If they ran true to their beliefs, they would say goodbye and pursue their preordained courses.
Could they?
April 10, 2022
How did I miss this one? Quite unusual for Mary Burchell. I would very much like to know what happened next.
September 14, 2023
Not my favorite
I didn't like the characters much until the very end. But they did redeem themselves at the end. That's why they received 2 stars instead of one
I didn't like the characters much until the very end. But they did redeem themselves at the end. That's why they received 2 stars instead of one
May 27, 2024
I loved this book so much. I can’t quit reading it. I love Mary Burchell’s books but I had no idea she wrote anything like this. As enchanting as the Warrender saga is, this is really special. Read it!
June 2, 2025
I almost didn't read this book. I started to a while ago, but didn't give it enough of a chance. At first, I didn't like the characters. But I'm running out of her books that are available for me to read, so I decided I'd read this one.
Hilma and Buck have expensive tastes and are both marrying people with money. They get to know each other through some clandestine meetings, some by chance. There is a lot of character growth. That's all I'll say. I wish the book were longer--at least one more chapter.
It was written in 1955, not in the 70s, when it was republished.
This is the 61st book I've read by Mary Burchell. I didn't know it was one of the ones with the highest star rating on goodreads. I'm glad I read it, although I had decided not to.
This book is available to read for free on freenovelread.com, as are many of her other books.
Grey eyes: Evelyn (Buck's fiance)
Hilma and Buck have expensive tastes and are both marrying people with money. They get to know each other through some clandestine meetings, some by chance. There is a lot of character growth. That's all I'll say. I wish the book were longer--at least one more chapter.
It was written in 1955, not in the 70s, when it was republished.
This is the 61st book I've read by Mary Burchell. I didn't know it was one of the ones with the highest star rating on goodreads. I'm glad I read it, although I had decided not to.
This book is available to read for free on freenovelread.com, as are many of her other books.
Grey eyes: Evelyn (Buck's fiance)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews