Escape with Emily & Chance

From the author

Emily Rose may be in the tiny West Texas town of Callahan Crossing for the moment, but it’s just a rung on her ladder to success. Her work at the Callahan Crossing historical society will look good on her ever-growing resume as she attempts to break into the prestigious world of a big city museum curator. Little does she know cowboy and contractor Chance Callahan has decided that he can convince her to stay–both with the town and with him. As he helps Emily restore the town’s history after a devastating fire, he also helps her uncover her own hidden worth and the value of love.

The second book in THE CALLAHANS OF TEXAS series, Emily’s Chance is a heartwarming story of letting love take the lead. Readers will come away wishing they lived in Callahan Crossing.



My take

I had red the original Callahans of Texas book, Jenna's Cowboy, earlier this year. However, it's not necessary to read the first book to follow Emily's Chance--the author introduces you to all the characters with a little background so it's easy to know their history.

Emily's Chance is a good, easy read with a sweet story of faith, trust, and love. The main character, Emily, wants a career and doesn't want love to detour her plans. Chance, the typical handsome and successful "cowboy", wants Emily for the rest of his life. But Chance is put on a pedestal with almost too much perfection--he is rich, attractive, God fearing, a "giver" to the community--and we're never really told that he has his own faults (we all have them!). When they start spending time together, they each get more stubborn about what they want. Will they be able to work things out? Both of them ask God for guidance and trust in his plans, but are they really listening to him or just "hearing" what they want to hear?

Gillenwater writes very well in both books with lots of thought-revealing discussion between her characters. However, I found the book pretty predictible. If you just want to escape and read without thinking too deeply, then this is the book for you. Sometimes it's nice to just lose yourself from the rigors of daily life but other times I like a book with a twist or surprise. That said, this was still a good book and worth picking up--especially if you like Texas and all that comes with it.

*This book is available October 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing.*

Thanks to Donna at Baker Publishing for providing a free copy of this book for review. I was not paid for this review and all opinions are unbiased and my own.