Customer Reviews

Courting Emma (Little Hickman Creek Series #3)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Courting Emma is the third book in Ms. MacLaren's Little Hickman Creek Series. I didn't read the other two, but if they are anything like this one, I certainly want to.

The back cover blurb says:

Twenty-eight-year-old Emma Browning has experienced a good deal of life at her young age. Proprietor of Emma's Boardinghouse, she is "mother" to an array of beefy, unkempt, often rowdy characters. Though many men would like to get to know the steely, hard-edged, yet surprisingly lovely proprietor, none has truly succeeded. That is, not until the town's new pastor, Jonathan Atkins, takes up residence in the boardinghouse, affecting not only her with his devout faith and strong convictions, but her clientèle as well. Emma clings desperately to her stubborn ways, refusing to acknowledge God's love until all of Little Hickman witnesses a miracle -- the conversion of her abusive and alcoholic father, Ezra! Only then will Emma begin to experience God's transforming power at work.

This blurb doesn't do justice to the depth of emotion in this book. I don't normally cry while reading a novel. Movies, yeah, but it takes a lot in a book to make me cry.

Well, I did toward the end of this one!

Also, this blurb doesn't tell you about the romance in the book and how wonderful the characters are portrayed. Emma and Jon are real people with real problems and pasts that are not so clean and shiny. They share a common, abusive past, but where Jon let God open his heart and learned how to forgive even if it was after his father's death, Emma stayed bitter and angry at her father, who, in her mind (and the mind of some townspeople) is unworthy of any kind of gentle feeling or compassion. She only deals with him when she has to and refuses to let anyone help her, believing that her father is her problem.

Jonathan, who she knew as a child, took a different path and ends up helping Emma with her father, regardless of her bitterness and out right anger at the idea of a loving God. Jon's example and refusal to back off from his beliefs eventually soften her heart and allows her to see God's love and her own worthiness.

An excellent book and one I would recommend to anyone interested in reading a wholesome inspirational that doesn't paint life as always rosy and sweet. Real people dealing with real problems and finding God through it all. Wonderful!

Boardinghouse owner Emma Browning may be an old maid, but she's no slouch. She runs the sharpest institution

in town, although her boarders might be a tad on the rough side. She's spent almost her entire lifetime trying

to overcome the stigmas associated with being the child of the town drunk.

That's why, when her new boarder tries to convince her that her dad needs a second chance, she balks.

Reverend Jonathan Atkins has been attracted to Emma since their schoolhouse days, but he's never let her know.

It's even more of a challenge to keep his feelings secret in the close quarters of Emma's boardinghouse. He

knows he can't marry someone who doesn't believe the same way he does, so why does God continue to "bless" him

with feelings for Emma?

When a storm traps Jonathan out in the elements, Emma's true feelings for him come to light. But how can she

trust him when the only man she's ever trusted - her father - let her down?

MacLaren's third book in the Little Hickman series is a touching addition, and one you won't want to miss.

Both Jonathan and Emma fight their feelings for each other, but it's no use because they seem to be destined

to end up together.

The adorable country/small town setting crafted by MacLaren in the first two books is still present, and

readers will enjoy interacting with other beloved characters.

This is a fun historical read. Recommended.

I don't read a lot of historical romance, but I'm discovering it's something I'm beginning to enjoy. So often in the past the characters weren't developed enough to satisfy me, and that's all important. A strong plot is important as well, but if I don't think about the characters and am not able to relate to them, I may not finish the book.

Emma was a very believable character, with problems and stresses that are real and relevant for today. The townspeople and supporting characters were strong, as well. The romance element wasn't overdone or drippy sweet, one of my biggest gripes with so many romances I've read recently. There was enough plot to keep the book moving along, although I'd have liked to see it pick up pace just a bit sooner, but overall it was very satisfying. That's the only reason I'm not giving it five stars....for me, a five star book has to stay in my memory for days, and the plot must move along so quickly it's a struggle to put the book down. A four star book is an excellent read, with believable characters, but just doesn't stay with me or rate as one that I'll keep forever and read at least 2-3 times.

Don't get me wrong...I VERY much enjoyed this book and my four star rating is something I only give to books I really like.

This book made me change my mind about historical fiction. It had just enough romance, conflict and humor to make a well-balance story. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read the first two books in the Little Hickman Creek series.

After reading and absolutely loving the first two books in Sharlene MacLaren's Little Hickman series, I could not wait to read the final story. The storyline for "Courting Emma" stood out to me more so than the first two for some reason, so when the book arrived on my front porch I could not wait to get started. Sharlene did not disappoint! "Courting Emma" is the best book in the series. MacLaren's writing and storytelling just gets better and better with every book. I loved watching Jonathan demonstrate his love to Emma, even though she wanted nothing to do with him (sound familiar?). I loved seeing Jonathan minister to Emma's father to show him Jesus with tear-jerking results. I loved watching Emma slowly warm up to Jonathan against her will, then realize she couldn't live without him. This is a fabulous story, one that I will read again and again.

COURTING EMMA, by Sharlene MacLaren

Reviewed by Marion Kelley Bullock

It's 1893 in Little Hickman, Kentucky. Twenty-eight-year-old Emma Browning runs a boarding house full of hooligans--six, to be exact. She's tough and stubborn. She doesn't want help from anybody, least of all Preacher Jon Atkins. He sells his house, donates the proceeds for building a church, and moves into the boardinghouse. Emma fears he'll try to hammer the gospel into her and her boarders. She wants nothing to do with God. She hangs on to a lifetime of bitterness toward her father, the town drunk.

Emma has begun receiving letters from a mysterious someone who knows about her and seems to know secrets about her father's past. At the same time, she's flattered and a bit discomfited to receive the attentions of both Jon and Billy Wonder, a suave traveling salesman. She tries to keep her mind off the handsome preacher. Jon finds Emma lovely and fascinating. But he wants to obey the still, small voice of God. He sets out to reach the unreachables. And right alongside that desire is his desperate wanting to court Emma.
Will Emma ever forgive her father? Will she find God's perfect plan for her life?

Ms. MacLaren's novel is sweet, but not syrupy. Real honest-to-goodness characters with genuine emotions people its pages. They live and breathe in my mind. I feel as if I might walk down Main Street and encounter some of them. Humor, romance, and mystery team with Christ's love to make this reading experience one you won't want to miss.

I love a book that totally transports me back in time and removes me to a place and a people that I come to love and care about! Sharlene MacLaren has done just that in her book, Courting Emma! Although I've not read the first two books in the Little Hickman Creek Series, I have truly come to love Little Hickman, Kentucky and I hope to make repeat visits!

Sharlene MacLaren takes two very different people, Miss Emma Browning and Pastor Johnathan Atkins and casts them as lead characters in her story. At first, the reader cannot imagine any two people more different, but the story tenderly reveals that their pasts are more similar than even the two of them knew. Sharlene MacLaren tells this story so beautifully and tenderly that it is easy to understand God's grace and mercy in every circumstance of our lives. Jon Atkins becomes God's hands and feet in the community and he shows Christ to them in a way so real that God's love becomes irresistible to many on whom the town had given up - Emma's father Ezra among them.

I don't want to give anything at all away in this tender love story. I will say that Sharlene deals with many issues like loving the unlovable, forgiving those who have hurt us, reaching out to those in need....timeless issues that are gentle reminders to all of God's children. I loved the way she used God's word to speak to the hearts of Little Hickman and I love the way each situation was bathed in prayer - knowingly or not. This really is a very special book, and I highly recommend it to everyone! What a testament to God's love and grace!! Thank you, Sharlene, from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to reading your books for a very long time!

Unapproachable Emma Browning has built an impenetrable wall of protection around her heart, blocking out all males in general and her scurrilous father in particular. She runs a successful boarding house in Little Hickman, Kentucky in 1896, successful meaning she can occasionally afford to buy material to make new curtains, and if enough is left over, sew herself a new dress.

Her wall of defense begins to crack when a boy who had teased her as a child returns to Little Hickman as Reverend Jonathan Atkins, the new preacher, and takes up residence in her boarding house--against her better judgment.

About the same time, mysterious letters begin arriving from Chicago from someone who knows her father. Someone who talks about relatives she had never heard of, and a God who forgives us as we forgive others. As the letters continue coming in, and the preacher brings her stricken father home to live out his final days, Emma is caught in the middle with nowhere to go but up.

MacLaren makes you feel like you've been dropped into the middle of a flourishing 1890s town with all its eccentricities, evils, and basic goodness. A pleasurable read, with an awesome finish.

Courting Emma was such a satisfying conclusion to the Little Hickman Creek series. I am very impressed with how the author caused us to feel part of this community,and how well developed the characters are,so that we really care about them. This series is a wonderful example of Christian Historical Romance.

Courting Emma
By Sharlene MacLaren
Review by Roseanna White








Emma Browning is known the town over as a no-nonsense woman determined to live down the shame of having the town drunk for a father. She runs the only boarding house in town, and the rough-and-tumble occupants are a lot easier for her to handle than her newest boarder: one Reverend Jon Atkins, who she has known and not been intrigued by since childhood. Having him under her roof is unsettling--almost as unsettling as the mysterious letters she's been getting from an unknown woman in Chicago.

Jon Atkins thoroughly enjoys his role as pastor of Little Hickman's only church, especially the part that entails building relationships with the town's citizens. He feels a special pull toward the notorious Ezra Browning. . . one that has nothing at all to do with a very different pull toward the drunk's alluring daughter. He's determined to show Christ's love to them both. But does the Lord have something more in store for the unlikely group?

Courting Emma takes a candid look into the soul of abused children and their different ways of overcoming their pasts, presenting characters so realistic that you'll want to wrap your arms around them and tell them everything will be all right. Readers met both Emma and Jon in the previous books in this trilogy, and I for one was really looking forward to their story. The tale stood easily on its own in spite of being the third in the series, and the deep hearts of the characters and their struggles kept the pages turning at a fast clip.

Courting Emma is the best yet from Sharlene MacLaren. I've read all her books thus far and absolutely adored this one. Each chapter was a treasure, and I devoured the story as quickly as I could. Anyone who's read Shar's previous books will definitely want to pick this one up, and any lover of historical romance would love this story of romance, forgiveness, and budding faith.