Loving Liza Jane

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!

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

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

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.