Customer Reviews

Emmy's Equal (Texas Fortunes)

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

 

 

'Emmy's Equal' is a Christian-based historical romance set in Texas in 1906. Although it is the last book in this trilogy I hadn't read either of the others but that didn't spoil anything for me. It starts off slowly but doesn't take long to develop into a wonderful rich story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the main characters, Emily (or Emmy as she prefers to be called), starts off very immature and to begin with I wondered if it was going to put me off the book but as the story develops she matures and becomes an integral part of the plot. I highly recommend this book.

Review: Emmy's Equal by Gruver, Marcia
5 STARS
I really enjoyed reading Emmy's Equal. Emily is fiesty and does not give up.
We first meet Emmy by an old well and she talks Nash into helping her go down the well looking for a hankie she lost.
Her parents and her Aunt Bertha are going on a trip to learn about cattle ranching down to South Texas. Emmy wants to go visit her friend Charity in St. Louis or stay home while they are away. Emmy's father William will not hear of her traveling so far or staying home by herself.
Emmy is 21 blond and beautiful living in Humble, Texas in 1906. She loves her parents but thinks her father does not love her because of his harshness to her.
On the Twisted-R Ranch lives Mrs Katherine Rawson her husband John Rawson owners,their son Cuddy, daughter is Greta. Diego his forman and lives in the bunk house with the other workers. Diego's Mom lives near the big house in one room house.
Before they had guests on the ranch Greta has been flirting with Diego's and Diego's had been thinking to ask her father if he could court her.
Both Cubby and Diego were both taken by Emmy's looks and started to compete for her attentions which left Greta jealous. Diego's mom Melatha was afraid either girl would not be right for her son. Cubby drinks a lot, his father is always holding Diego as an example and wants Cubby to be more like him.
The story keeps you interested and has lots of drama. Good clean story, has a lot of conflicts with everyone interacting together. Also has some faith but does not throw it in too much.
I would like to read some other books in this series. I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest reviews by Netgalley.

Emmy's Equal
Marcia Gruver 2009
ISBN 978-1-60260-207-6
Barbour Publishing
Historical Fiction 1906

This is the third book of The Texas Fortunes series.

Emmy is from Humble, Texas. She always seem to be in some trouble or another as if it finds her. Her parents are going to South Texas so her Aunt Bertha can buy some cattle. Emmy is hoping to go to St. Louis to visit with Charity, Aunt Bertha's daughter, who is like a sister to her. Charity married and now has a son. Her parents decide she will come with. Emmy dreads this as her father has been distant with her for many years. He traveled often and she grew close to their ranch hand, Nash, who was more like a father to her. They are going to be staying at the Rawson Ranch, a friend of her fathers from England that he has not seen for many a year.

Diego has spent many years searching for who he is. His father was a Spaniard and his mother Choctaw. After his fathers death they moved back with the Choctaw people until Diego grew restless and went in search of any relations of his father. When he ended up working on the Rawson Ranch and became foreman he built a small home for his mother and moved her with him. Mr. Rawson treated him as his son, if only he would have treated his own son as well. Cutty was always trying to please his father but ranching was not his desire.

We see how important it is to wait upon God for the right person to spend our life with. Diego feels that Greta Rawson is the most beautiful woman and that he should court her. His mother disagrees. When Emily Dane arrives at the ranch with her family Diego is smitten. Suddenly Greta pales next to Emmy.

Diego's mother sees the fire in Emmy and rejects her immediately. Before Emmy had accepted the Lord she was more like the girl others assumed she was. Because of her beauty all havoc breaks out. Greta is jealous, Diego and Cutty's relationship changes, Rosita the cook don't like her because she feels she is bewitching the men and causing trouble.

Received book from NetGalley for review

Emmy heads with her family to south Texas because her aunt wants to learn about growing cattle and her Pa has a friend who does just that. Emmy does not even want to go but has no choice and is not happy about it. Diego is the Forman of the ranch they are heading too. He is not a blood relation of the owner but is almost family. Will Emmy find happiness deep in the heart of Texas?

Okay I really did not enjoy this book. I could write more about the plot but honestly this book just was not that interesting to me The story sounded good and the author does an okay job but in the end I was like why did I just read this book? The author tried to tell this story from way to many characters, Emmy, Diego, Diego's mother and Emmy's mother. Just to many angles and I feel I never got to know any of them that well. I felt the main characters where not explored enough. The romance was flat they feel in love with out barely even talking to each other.

I did enjoy learning about deep Texas and I felt the author did a good job of bring the time period to life. The story was just interesting enough I did read the whole book but not interesting enough to go back and read the first two books of the series. If you like historical romance you might like this book but read the reviews first or download the first chapter before you buy.

Emily Dane is a rather immature 21 years old, used to getting her way. She is devastated when her family decides to take a trip to southern Texas, and begs to go to St. Louis to visit Charity, but her parents disagree and insist that she accompanies them on their trip. Emmy vows to hate every minute of it and is determined to make the trip miserable.

Ranch foreman Diego Marcelo believes he's in love with the Ranch owner's daughter, but his Choctaw mother insists that she is not the one. His mother insists that the one who will ease his loneliness will come from the north. Diego scoffs, insisting he is not so lonely, but is happy as things are.

When Emmy arrives, Diego finds himself jealous over the attention that his boss' son pays Emmy. Both Diego and Emmy possess strong wills and find themselves clashing at every turn. Will they be able to surrender their wills and work together to prevent certain disasters?

EMMY'S EQUAL is the third book in the Texas Fortunes series by Mr. Gruver, but it easily stands alone. I enjoyed getting to know Emmy and Diego and the different challenges that each of them faced.

I did find Emmy quite a bit immature acting, doing some incredibly stupid things, mostly at the beginning of the book. I was shocked to read that she was 21 years old, the way she was acting, I thought much younger. The sparks between Diego and Emmy were entertaining, and I did hope that the two would mature and find love and happiness.

Marcia Gruver lists herself as an Author of Factual Fiction. She "tends to weigh in occasionally on eternally significant issues, and her true passion is Christian fiction."

Emmy's Equal, the third of her "Texas Fortunes" trilogy, set in 1906 Texas, meets these criteria with a subtitle of: "A strong-willed city girl meets her match in a stubborn vaquero."

This book has a great story with significant interplay of the different cultures. It takes some getting used to early in the book, but overall is well laid out and satisfying.

It was easy to imagine the South Texas setting and people living there. The story about the wild horse and what happened to him was especially fascinating.

Each of the characters goes through their individual twists and turns of the plot lines, but everything comes together well in the final chapters and no one is left hanging.

If you like historical fiction, I predict you will enjoy this good read! ;-)

In this book compared to Marcia Gruver's other two, it gets a little slower start. But one has to build the story. But before long you are swept up in the story and living the life on the Western Frontier. Emily is headstrong which is a characteristic I see in one of my daughter's. She will hold her own regardless. She struggles with the fact her parents want her to go with them instead of to her married sister's where she prefers to go. There are the struggles of a young woman embarking on adult hood and not understanding her parents reasons.
Diego's Mother has a dream that she believes in going to be Diego's future wife. But he has a hard time deciding on which woman he is suppose to love. It takes him time before he realizes who God has for him.
The part that kept me rivoted to the book was the going to buy cattle by Bertha. On the drive back to the ranch with cattle the boss bought, adventure becomes danger. You find yourself feeling the story from this point on. You hold your breath and hope and pray right along with those in the story.
Faith is built as you go through this story. I know as I am battling struggles with my Mom and Alhemizer's and about sunk under the load of the situation. But many times this story has spoke to my heart.

I'll have to agree that Marcia is a beautiful storyteller. This is the third book I have read of her's and I am looking forward to her next one. I have a love of the Hispanic people so the story touched one of my soft spots.

The take home value for me is that Marcia showed Emmy's change from a self willed young woman in previous stories into a still spunky young woman who is now tempered by her love of the Lord. But she doesn't have to give up her natural lively personality to please Him.

After a slow start, this one picked up and was enjoyable. The characters were likeable and grow on you. Diego Marcelo is the strong, handsome, exotic ranch foreman who is like a second son to the ranch owner. He is also best friends with the owner's son Cuddy. When Emmy and her family arrive at the Twisted-R ranch for a visit, both men are immediately taken with her beauty. And, Emmy is the spoiled little girl who, predictably, grows up and wins the heart of Diego.

Diego's heritage is Hispanic and Native-American and the look into the differences in culture was interesting.

With cattle drives, prairie fires, rustlers and thieves, this South Texas adventure is somewhat predictable, but also entertaining and a nice diversion. It's an easy, Christian read. Not too preachy, but God is definitely a part of some of the characters' lives.

EMMY'S EQUAL is a historical romance set in South Texas. When Emmy's father and mother decide to accompany Emmy's Aunt Bertha to Texas to research the cattle industry, Emmy is forced to go with them. Once there, she is immediately attracted to Diego Marcelo the foreman of the sprawling Twisted-R Ranch. But she's not the only one smitten. Cuddy Rawson the ranch owner's son immediately takes notice of Emmy. While Cuddy acts on his feelings, Diego secretly is attracted to the fair-haired Emmy. While these three tried to sort out their feelings for one another, one calamity after another strikes Emmy's family and Mr. Rawson as they seek after prized cattle for Aunt Bertha to purchase.
EMMY'S EQUAL was rich in storytelling and kept a pretty even pace. The uniqueness to the characters, and the circumstances that both pulled them apart and brought them together, while not altogether original, were told in a way that I felt was fresh and creative. Everyone loves an old fashioned lover's triangle, but at times, I felt some scenes were breezed over too quickly. Overall, I enjoyed EMMY's EQUAL and the characters Marica Gruver created.