Autumn Dreams ~ Sharon McGregor

• File Size: 206 KB
• Print Length: 57 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Prism Book Group (October 22, 2014)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00ODHR234

Purchase Autumn Dreams here, a real steal for .99 cents!

Publication Date: October 22, 2014

Maggie arrives at her new teaching job, planning to board with a family she’s prepared to like. What she isn’t ready for is her landlady’s brother, Marshall, who seems to hate her on sight. She is captivated by Ellen’s six-year-old daughter Emma who is having identity problems facing the arrival of a new baby in the family. When Ellen goes into labor in the middle of a storm, Maggie must face her fears for Ellen’s sake. Along the way, she helps a family grow closer, but what about her hopes for the future? Can she get past the wall Marshall has set up? Does she really have a future here amongst the people she has grown to care for? 

My take on this book:

  Autumn Dreams by Sharon McGregor  tells the story of twenty-five year old  Maggie Lawrence a young schoolteacher who accepts a teaching position just outside the prairie town of Timber, and looks forward to staying with the Thornhills on their farm for the next year. While she immediately connects with Ellen, Ray and Emma Thornhill it seems that Ellens brother Marshall hates her. How could someone she just met dislike her so much, especially when her heart is drawn to him?

Sharon McGregor easily transports readers back to 1949 with Autumn Dreams. She creates a sweeter time where the pace of life was slower, some people were still using horse drawn wagons, and even attending box socials. A time when teachers taught in one room schoolhouses and boarded with a local family for the school term.Maggie was such a strong, brave character, but she did have a few fears and insecurities, but that only lent a sense of realism to her character.  The authors descriptive writing allowed me to visualize Maggie in such a way that I actually felt like I stepped into her shoes as I read the story.Marshall had been burned by a schoolteacher once so it was easy to see why he guarded his heart.  The relationships that formed between Maggie, and the Thornhills was honest and real, she fit right in and seemed like family right away. Six year old Emma was a delightful character who was worried about her  place in the family if her mother had a baby boy. Of course I have to mention Gus the cat who made a few appearances! Autumn Dreams is a sweetly written story that provides a good wholesome feel where the characters are very easy to like and connect with. I don't often read historical fiction set in this time period but Autumn Dreams has me rethinking that decision because Ms. McGregor created such an inviting description of the  time period that I really want to visit it again.

Reviewed for Readersfavorite.com