Saturday, January 15, 2011

Emily's Chance - by Sharon Gillenwater


If you’re a fan of a good Texas love story, you’ll want to be sure to read the latest book in Sharon Gillenwater’s The Callahan’s of Texas series: Emily’s Chance.

If you haven’t read the first book, don’t worry. You’ll still be able to pick this one up and read it without being confused. But when you’re done reading, you’ll want to rush out and buy Jenna’s Cowboy, because once you’ve read one book in this series, you won’t want to miss any of them.


People in Callahan Crossing have a lot of pieces to pick up after a fire destroys much of the town. Emily Rose Denny is there to work on the town’s historical museum. And though Chance Callahan doesn’t see how restoring the museum will help the town recover after the fire, he’s glad to help, and even more glad that Emily is here to stay for a while.

The romance between these two characters evolves naturally and delightfully, and the book is filled with touching moments between Chance, Emily, and his parents. She doesn’t have the best of relationships with her own parents, and yet she fits into Chance’s family so perfectly.

Emily tries to keep herself from falling in love, knowing she’s only in town for the duration of the job. When it’s over, she’ll pack her suitcase and head for the big city, where she’ll try to land an even bigger job. But will she find that God has led her to this town for a different purpose?

When she makes a shocking discovery while restoring the museum, it causes Chance to question everything he’s ever believed in. And as he helps with the project, he hopes to convince Emily to give up her dream of being a curator at a large museum in Dallas and stay in Callahan Crossing—with him.

I love the small-town feel of this book, as well as every book Sharon writes. The setting is so vivid, I feel like I’m right there. The characters are so real; I can picture them laughing, talking, and interacting with each other. Sharon never fails to bring a smile to my face and evoke at least one tear from my cynical eyes.

Like I did, you’ll fall in love with these characters, and the charm of Sharon’s natural storytelling voice. And be sure to watch for Megan’s Hero, the next book in The Callahans of Texas series, available in June.


Though she lives in Washington State, Sharon Gillenwater grew up on a ranch in West Texas. It’s hard to take the girl out of Texas, and that’s why she’s so good at creating her small-town Texas settings. You can visit Sharon’s website at: http://www.sharongillenwater.com/

To read my review of Jenna's Cowboy, click here: http://inkwellinspirations.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharon%20Gillenwater

9 comments:

  1. Putting a cute cowboy on the cover is just plain good marketing.

    I'll be back later after ya'll have stopped murmuring about my gift for the obvious.

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  2. Debra!! I was thinking the same thing!!!

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  3. Poll anyone? Which cowboy do you like best? I'm leaning toward the one on the cover of Megan's Hero.

    Oh, and the stories sound good too! Thanks for the recommendation Suzie!

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  4. Hmmm...not personally a cowboy fan. However, I do have some great memories of two-stepping with real live cowboys in Tulsa. Fun to dance with, but not generally my type.

    As for the cover model poll - Megan's Hero is clearly the handsomest, but I pulled up the larger images on google and really like the eyes on the Emily's Chance guy. Very deep and mysterious with lots of colors playing together.

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  5. LOL! You guys are so funny! I do agree, the marketing department at Revell certainly did its job. Dina, I agree with you assessment of the Chance's eyes. And Lisa, yes, the books are wonderful. I get the same warm feelings after reading Sharon's books that I get when I read Debbie Macomber.

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  6. oh my word, ladies...I had to minimize the comments, scroll up, and re-check out those cowboys. Well, there certainly isn't false advertising on these covers.

    Suzie, I love your recommendations for cowboy books, and I'm definitely going to have to check these out!

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  7. Ah, Susie, I'm glad you like my recommendations. I know you'll enjoy this one.

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  8. Well, gosh. I come back and you girls have been talking about the boys. I can't choose, but I'm thinking I have sons about those ages.
    But who wants to look at OLD cowboys?

    Seriously, I hope to catch at least one of this series. I just can't figure out how to find more reading time and my TBR pile is growing. I need more in audio format!

    Thanks Suzie--great post!

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  9. Great post. I have read all of this series so far and would highly recommend them. I am waiting to get my hands on Megan's
    hero.
    tarenn98[at]yahoo[dot]com

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