Customer Reviews

Loving Liza Jane (Little Hickman Creek Series #1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Eliza Jane Meriwether knew her Aunt Hettie and Uncle Gideon loved her, after all they had raised her and were wonderful guardians, but there comes a time when a girl has to try her wings. That's why she answered an ad to be the new schoolmarm at LIttle Hickman Creek, Kentucky. However, the inhabitants of her new home were not excactly what she had expected.

The students had already run off three teachers, two of them men, so the townspeople didn't expect her to stay either. Liza Jane faced a lot of challenges in her new location, but perhaps the greatest challenge of all was dealing with Ben Broughton, a young widower with two small daughters. The daughters are delightful, but Ben keeps interferring with her determination to be independent. Why can't the man just stay out of her way?

Loving Liza Jane is a light hearted story about a man and woman who belong together but are both too mule-headed stubborn to admit it. A captivating book that will hold the reader from page one.

Someone earlier said that she was disappointed because this wasn't a Francine Rivers' type book. While I do agree that it isn't a Francine Rivers' book like Redeeming Love, what the reviewer did was to confuse those who are looking for this type of historical romance.

Loving Liza Jane is well done and reminds you of the Christy-type book or Lauraine Snelling's type of historical romances. The author hooked me into buying the next two books in this series because I loved the characters and the setting. And since I often recommend books to bookclubs, etc. I not only did that, but those people also wanted the next books about Sarah and Emma, like me.

If you like the prairie romances, this is a book you will like. While it is yes, sweet, it also deals with tough issues. As a former classroom teacher, I also could relate to the classroom/teacher scenes, too. She characterized small towns and children well, too. MacLaren uses humor and drama in good proportion.

I recommend this book for all the above reasons.

This writer is just refreshing in her stories. I'm a Sr citizen who has been reading many years but this is my first reading with anything written by Sharlene Maclaren. My only suggestion is that #1, #2 be somewhere on the covers so there would be a flow in reading the books. I had to look in the back several times to figure out which was first, since I bought all 3 of the Little Hickman series. I highly recommend each and every one. Thank you Sharlene for a job well done.

Carol Mack
Pennsylvania

Loving Liza Jane, by Sharlene MacLaren, is a delightful romantic excursion into "yester-year"; a story that reads like Anne of Green Gables meets Laura Ingalls Wilder, with authentic characters and language that is still accessible to the twentieth century reader. Widower Benjamin Broughton and new school teacher Liza are wonderfully written characters, emblematic of the classic "reluctant lovers", who - despite their best efforts to the contrary - are pulled together by fate, forces beyond their ken, perhaps even God Himself.

When newly licensed teacher Liza Jane Merriwether arrives in the small, Kentuckian town of Little Hickman Creek, she finds the town much smaller than imagined, its folk more "rough and tumble" than she'd bargained for, and a student population posing far more trouble than she'd like. Suffering the long, bumpy cart ride into town with the ornery Mr. Brackett was bad enough, but when Liza discovers that the private lodging she'd requested isn't even ready yet, it's enough to make a girl want to run home, as she thinks to herself, Oh Lord, what have I done?

Undaunted, Liza Jane is determined that God has brought her to Little Hickman Creek for a reason. She's been hired to teach for one year, and in spite of a town more concerned with its crops than education, a pack of hooligans that's run off three teachers in exactly three years, and her own doubts about her ability, she's determined to make the best of the situation. In fact, the one thing she can do - get a handle on her housing, and discover why her personal cabin isn't ready yet - she does, marching out the Broughton farmstead, bristling with questions.

However, Ben Broughton is the last thing she expected to find in Little Hickman Creek - a charming, handsome widower struggling to run his farm and raise his two daughters, seven year old Lili and fifteen month-old Maggie. He's rugged, contrary, and protective in an old-fashioned way that aggravates and charms Liza to no end. He's also a spiritual man, too - a true man of God who's accepted the death of his wife as a burden of faith, not allowing his losses to make him a bitter man.

Liza's position as the new school teacher stands in the way, however. First of all, allowing something to flower between she and one of her students' parents just wouldn't be proper, and secondly, there's the harsh stipulation of her contract - a clause she never imagined would pose a problem - she shall have "no improper contact with the opposite sex". Is it improper to suddenly discover she harbors feelings for the father of one of her students?

Ben Broughton, on the other hand, is at the end of his rope. He loves both his daughters dearly, and would do anything for them - caring the load of the world, if he had to - but in recent months, it's become painfully clear to him that his growing girls need a feminine touch, a woman around the house to nurture them in ways he never could. In a moment of desperation, Ben does the unthinkable - he sends away for a mail order bride, to provide the mother his daughters need so desperately.

Unfortunately, there's a problem; he too senses the growing attraction between he and Liza, and after he receives confirmation from his "mail order bride", a stranger named Sara Woodward, he's torn - should he ignore his feelings for Liza, especially after he's already "paid" for his bride, or is God trying to give him a not so subtle nudge in the direction of the answer to his prayers?

Loving Liza Jane is a wonderful story of endearing faith, hope, and love, written in a literary fashion reminding one of a Jane Eyre/Pride & Prejudice story. The classic love triangle - or perhaps even square, given the mail order bride, Sarah Woodward - is there, with Ben Broughton's childhood friend, Reverend Jon Atkins, lurking after Liza himself, and all the makings of a classic love story are there. Loving Liza Jane is an excellent first entry in a series that will hopefully bring us more stories from the small Kentucky town of Little Hickman Creek.

Finally!!! An Inspirational Historical Romance author who writes "real" romance that quickens the pulse and nourishes the soul! Three cheers for Sharlene McClaren and her Little Hickman Creek Series, a must-read for romance lovers everywhere. Ms. MacLaren is a master at weaving deep and stirring characters into a historical tapestry of rich and rugged pioneer life at its most endearing. Without question, one of my favorite authors!

I have read all of MacLaren's books, and the Little Hickman Creek Series does not disappoint! Is it the most challenging book you'll ever read? No. But that is the beauty of MacLaren's books. They are for everyone! I found Loving Liza Jane to be a good clean romantic story that made me feel hopeful (as her books always do). I totally agree with one reviewer that said MacLaren does a great job of incorporating scripture that makes the reader grow right along with the characters. I thought that Liza Jane was a fantastic determined character!

School teachers are in demand in small towns across America in the late 1800's and Little Hickman Creek, Kentucky is no exception. Eliza Jane Merriweather is determined to be the only teacher not scared away by the notorious Hogsworth twins and ruffian, Clement Bartel, despite the dire warnings given to her by her slovenly escort into town.

Farmer and widower, Benjamin Broughton willingly offers a little cottage on his property to the new teacher, thrilled that his inquisitive young daughter will have a woman to learn from. He simply doesn't expect Miss Merriweather to be so bullheaded about her Independence, despite the threatening behaviour from some of her older students and their parents. Besides, his mail order bride will be arriving any moment so he has other things to focus on!

Liza has much to learn about teaching, her faith and, as the infuriating Mr Broughton continues to point out, that patience is a virtue she must acquire forthwith!

Sharlene MacLaren has penned a delightful historical romance and despite the familiarity of the tale it rises above as it is infused with emotion, charm and merriment. Liza Jane and Ben Broughton are well rounded characters and their interaction is captivating. The plot is substantive and Sharlene's minor characters, including the heartbroken Rocky, the dedicated preacher Jon and the beautiful yet detached Emma, add soul to the town and are a prelude to further books in the series. I am looking forward to returning to Little Hickman soon.

Loving Liza Jane is equally reminiscent of Little House on the Prarie and Catherine Marshall's Christy. Eliza Jane Merriwether was raised in Boston and is newly graduated from teacher's college. She has applied to be the teacher for the town of Little Hickman, a small country town in Kentucky.

Liza reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder, that they're both teachers and have very similar personalities. Liza is a very stubborn, opionated, strong-willed woman of only twenty one years of age. She is all of five foot two inches tall and has the strength and character of a bigger, older woman. At first she comes off as a snob, speaking haughtily to the stagecoach driver and then later to the generous widowed man who has offered her a cabin to live in (as she had insisted on living on her own). At that first meeting between Liza and Ben Broughton (who is easily twice her size and very handsome) the sparks fly. Liza is very anxious to get set up in her new home but it is no where near ready to be lived in. From then on she begins to learn the meaning of the adage "Patience is a virtue" (which becomes a theme of sorts).

Liza, like Laura and Christy before her, has a lot of spunk. You have to give her credit; it takes a lot of courage, as a single woman in those days (1895-), to try to make a life on her own with no family nearby. She is taking over teaching at a school with young, rambunctious boys who have made a habit of running off teachers. But she stands her ground and befriends and wins over the majority of the students as well as the town of Little Hickman as well.

There is a Christy-ish love triangle between the new school teacher (Liza), the reverend (Jon), and Ben, the widowed father of two. Ben believes that Liza is in love with Jon, and sends for a mail-order bride to help raise his little girls. The complications that soon arise throw Ben and Liza together but each is reluctant to admit to any feelings for the other. Liza is under contract, as the teacher, to not have any improper "dealings" with single men- believing that she has to remain unattached. The resulting tension and denial of feelings creates some sweet and touching moments.

Overall a great historical romance that brings to mind classic novels like Anne of Green Gables, Little House, Jane Eyre, Christy, and of Dr. Quinn (the tv show). Fans of any of those stories will enjoy reading Loving Liza Jane and escaping to a simpler time of old-fashioned values, morals, and romance. I look forward to the next installment of Little Hickman Creek- Sarah, My Beloved.

Review by Roseanna White

Liza Jane Merriwether had been quite sure the Lord had called her to teach in Kentucky--until she bumped her way into the dusty street that called itself a town and actually saw her new home. The cabin promised her isn't ready, the woman who hired her is cold and bossy, and all she hears for days are the stories about the way her future students terrorized the previous teachers. But God led her here, so surely He knows what He's doing.

Ben Broughton is at the end of his rope. He's having enough difficulty with his farm and raising two girls on his own, he doesn't know how he's supposed to find the time to fix up his grandfather's old cabin for the new schoolmarm. The new, pretty, and tempestuous schoolmarm. From their first meeting, they get under each other's skin, but Ben doesn't have time to worry about her. He has his problems enough on his own, and the only solution he can think of is that he find a wife--fast. And the mail-order bride ad he sees seems like the perfect solution.

Loving Liza Jane, the first installment in MacLaren's Little Hickman Creek Series, is a sweet and involving story of two people so determined to do God's will that they sometimes forget to seek what it might be. The relationships are touching and deep, the characters are believable and inviting, and the town of Little Hickman feels like home. Liza gets herself into scrape after scrape--helped along by a few troublemaking hooligans--but she quickly endears herself to the whole town. Though outspoken, she usually knows when to step back. Especially since her self-appointed guardian angel, Ben, is always there to tug her out of harm's way. He goes from prickly to tender with her as his feelings shift to and fro, but while he might question his own heart, he doesn't long question her ability as a teacher or a friend to his six-year-old daughter.

I really enjoyed getting to know the residents of this small Kentucky town, and I'm looking forward to reading the ongoing adventures of Liza and Ben's friends. A few of the twists were predictable, but others took me by surprise and kept the story moving along at a comfortable clip. Loving Liza Jane is a great choice for any lover of romance or historicals

I was very disappointed when I ordered this book based on the reviews here. This is a nice story, no doubt about that, however it was utterly formulaic. There wasn't a single plot "twist" (if you could even refer to them as twists) I wasn't able to figure out long before it was written - and I'm no genius when it comes to plot twists. If you had never read a book of fiction and you were perhaps 15 years old - this book might have held some unknown turns in the storyline for you. This book in no way is truly reflected in the reviews. It's a nice story that might keep you interested but I found myself skimming most of the book only to find out what eventually happened (everything went as I predicted). You do end up caring for the characters, that's the only reason I even skimmed it, otherwise I just would have left it after the the first few chapters I'm sorry to say.

If you were to compare this novel to anything written by Francine Rivers -there is no comparrison. This book isn't even in the same ballpark so the four and five star ratings here are very inflated. I only wish I had known that before buying the book.