What do you think?
Rate this book
Plum Creek Bride
Erika Scharf Had Always Followed Her Heart
Now it had led her to America, and a tortured man with a motherless infant. But would the widowed Dr. Jonathan Callender ever recover from his grief?
Whatever drove him had died with his young wife—or so it seemed to Jonathan Callender. He knew only that nothing mattered anymore—until the day a German whirlwind disguised as the very determined Erika Scharf charged into his life—and made his heart live again.
Now it had led her to America, and a tortured man with a motherless infant. But would the widowed Dr. Jonathan Callender ever recover from his grief?
Whatever drove him had died with his young wife—or so it seemed to Jonathan Callender. He knew only that nothing mattered anymore—until the day a German whirlwind disguised as the very determined Erika Scharf charged into his life—and made his heart live again.
296 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1999
5 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Lynna Banning
77 books83 followersI was born in Oregon and raised in northern California. While growing up I listened to my grandparents' and my mother's stories about life on the ranch they owned in Douglas County, some miles east of Roseburg.
Later (after I retired from work as a professional editor for an aerospace firm) I began writing fiction based on these stories... my first book was "Western Rose," which is based on the unusual courtship of my grandparents.
A medieval studies major in college, I have also written two medieval novels, one about a Crusader knight and a girl raised in a harem (!) who end up at the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine when she was Queen of England. The second novel is about a Templar knight who falls in love with a young woman troubadour... but of course because of his vows of chastity, he cannot marry.
I hope you will enjoy my books; I always like hearing from readers, so feel free to email me (carolynw@cruzio.com) and also see my website - http://www.lynnabanning.com.
Later (after I retired from work as a professional editor for an aerospace firm) I began writing fiction based on these stories... my first book was "Western Rose," which is based on the unusual courtship of my grandparents.
A medieval studies major in college, I have also written two medieval novels, one about a Crusader knight and a girl raised in a harem (!) who end up at the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine when she was Queen of England. The second novel is about a Templar knight who falls in love with a young woman troubadour... but of course because of his vows of chastity, he cannot marry.
I hope you will enjoy my books; I always like hearing from readers, so feel free to email me (carolynw@cruzio.com) and also see my website - http://www.lynnabanning.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 1, 2025
This book is so lovely!
Erika is a German immigrant, she lost her parents in homeland and came to America determined to build a life for herself. She answers an add to be a nanny but when she reaches the house she learns that the mother died during birth and that the grieving widower intends to send his daughter away to Scotaland (his homeland)
Erika is so funny without intending to be so. She's honest to a fault and speaks funny English. Every time somenone tries to be condescending with her using big words she would whip out her pen and papers and asks ahppily "What does that word mean? can you spell it for me"
MMC, the dad is a serious doctor who tries to warn the village people against the danger of cholera and he faced extreme ignorance, delaing with the death of his wife, and the crying baby who can't touch for now, Erika is the only one who could get through him with her honest straight ways!
Adding this book to my Bingo Challenge for a read about "A doctor in a romance book".
25⭕ ┃37⭕┃87┃13┃68⭕┃40⭕┃32┃59┃76┃44
10⭕┃86┃4 ┃45⭕┃47┃98┃50⭕┃14⭕┃85┃75
88┃51┃ 9⭕┃2┃42⭕┃29⭕┃ 24┃92⭕┃ 82┃1⭕
100┃34⭕┃17⭕┃96⭕┃43⭕┃49┃64⭕┃70┃15⭕┃38⭕
84⭕┃31⭕┃ 62⭕┃7⭕┃21⭕┃73┃28⭕┃46⭕┃90⭕┃77
3⭕┃12⭕┃80⭕┃ 69⭕┃52⭕┃ 65⭕┃54⭕┃ 91⭕┃23⭕┃ 72⭕
18┃95┃ 22┃99┃93┃74⭕┃41⭕┃8┃35⭕┃ 58⭕
57⭕┃94┃ 16⭕┃56┃ 5⭕┃60⭕┃78⭕┃ 26┃81┃ 61⭕
97⭕┃48⭕┃ 79⭕┃67┃ 53⭕┃30⭕┃ 6⭕┃36⭕┃89⭕┃ 33⭕
71⭕┃19⭕┃ 39⭕┃66⭕┃ 55⭕┃27⭕┃ 20⭕┃63┃ 11⭕┃83
December 29, 2019
Plum Creek Bride was okay - it kinda already came across as dated (it is, after all, a twenty-year old historical romance novel). The premises was somewhat unique / different. Plum Creek Bride features a widowed doctor and his baby's nurse. However, I am sorry to say that the hero came across as a wimp and a pervert.
I dunno… it just seemed a bit weird (or maybe it is a "guy thing"? LOL) that after multiple crying spells and a three week mourning period following the death of his wife in childbirth that the hero finds himself physically reacting to the heroine and then proposed marriage in order to uphold the heroine's reputation.
I dunno… it just seemed a bit weird (or maybe it is a "guy thing"? LOL) that after multiple crying spells and a three week mourning period following the death of his wife in childbirth that the hero finds himself physically reacting to the heroine and then proposed marriage in order to uphold the heroine's reputation.
May 21, 2025
1.75 stars
Complete waste of time. This had so much potential but fell flat. I really want to give that extra star for the immigrant experience from the heroine's POV. The prejudice and bigotry that immigrants and non-whites face in America and Europe was very commendable and relatable (and the fact that the heroine's father was Jewish was lovely) but the writing was very hiccupy and the romance was severely lacking that it was hard to overlook. And I don’t know if this was just the kindle version having formatting issues or what but there were a ton of grammar, punctuation, typo mistakes in this. You had dialogue that.reads.like.this. and sentences just left incomplete. So it was distracting and didn't help the already dated writing.
The heroine Erika Scharf is a young German woman who has sailed to America in the hopes of experiencing the American dream of learning English and starting a new life. She's been hired as a baby nurse for a couple who just had a baby, only to arrive in Plum Creek, Oregon to find a grieving widower with an infant he wants nothing to do with. I liked Erika, she had spunk, was very determined, brave and spoke her mind and faced off against the hero when he tried to steamroll over her. I also really liked how she faced off against racist townspeople when they tried to lynch a Native American man. The author did a great job of showing her thought process of not realizing why her neighbors were so awful to outsiders and realizing it's wrong and having to say something even though she was terrified. Her going around with her notebook taking notes of new words in English cracked me up. The hero Jonathan Callender is the town doctor in Plum Creek who has been warning locals and farmers about the threat of cholera and not using water from their creeks only for a cholera outbreak to eventually happen. Points for realism painted there. But the romance? Barely happened on the page. The heroine suddenly realizing she has feelings for the grieving hero like 3 days after working for him was just laughable considering how rude and dismissive he was to her. I think the hero held his child once in this whole book which is really sad and highlights the issue. The author didn't really spend much time fleshing out the romance or chemistry between hero and heroine. The one sex scene was surprisingly very tender and sweet and showed this couple had chemistry and a lot of potential but it only covered 3 pages. :/ Too much focus on the racist townspeople and the hero and heroine carrying on with their daily lives.
Complete waste of time. This had so much potential but fell flat. I really want to give that extra star for the immigrant experience from the heroine's POV. The prejudice and bigotry that immigrants and non-whites face in America and Europe was very commendable and relatable (and the fact that the heroine's father was Jewish was lovely) but the writing was very hiccupy and the romance was severely lacking that it was hard to overlook. And I don’t know if this was just the kindle version having formatting issues or what but there were a ton of grammar, punctuation, typo mistakes in this. You had dialogue that.reads.like.this. and sentences just left incomplete. So it was distracting and didn't help the already dated writing.
The heroine Erika Scharf is a young German woman who has sailed to America in the hopes of experiencing the American dream of learning English and starting a new life. She's been hired as a baby nurse for a couple who just had a baby, only to arrive in Plum Creek, Oregon to find a grieving widower with an infant he wants nothing to do with. I liked Erika, she had spunk, was very determined, brave and spoke her mind and faced off against the hero when he tried to steamroll over her. I also really liked how she faced off against racist townspeople when they tried to lynch a Native American man. The author did a great job of showing her thought process of not realizing why her neighbors were so awful to outsiders and realizing it's wrong and having to say something even though she was terrified. Her going around with her notebook taking notes of new words in English cracked me up. The hero Jonathan Callender is the town doctor in Plum Creek who has been warning locals and farmers about the threat of cholera and not using water from their creeks only for a cholera outbreak to eventually happen. Points for realism painted there. But the romance? Barely happened on the page. The heroine suddenly realizing she has feelings for the grieving hero like 3 days after working for him was just laughable considering how rude and dismissive he was to her. I think the hero held his child once in this whole book which is really sad and highlights the issue. The author didn't really spend much time fleshing out the romance or chemistry between hero and heroine. The one sex scene was surprisingly very tender and sweet and showed this couple had chemistry and a lot of potential but it only covered 3 pages. :/ Too much focus on the racist townspeople and the hero and heroine carrying on with their daily lives.
March 24, 2022
Bought this way back 2017 and since been re-reading it. This got me hooked as Erika's character is a complete wayward but also determined and steady. She sure defied A LOT and I love every minute of it! Their first impression was hilarious, I was kept entertained. Beautiful messages in here, too, deep and in par with today's generation. The epilogue was a sweet and peaceful ending, I was envious😭
March 8, 2018
Lovely Romance
Another wonderful romance by Lynna Banning.
This story really touched my heart! I loved Erika, her lovely, and strong spirit, her determination. It took me longer to warm up to Dr. Jonathan Calender but he finally found himself.
Another wonderful romance by Lynna Banning.
This story really touched my heart! I loved Erika, her lovely, and strong spirit, her determination. It took me longer to warm up to Dr. Jonathan Calender but he finally found himself.
October 6, 2023
Ahh well!! 2.5
I wanted more romance and less of the daily nick nacks.
The h was fine so was H but i didn't feel the love or romance.
The issues were given more importance rather than the protagonists.
I wanted more romance and less of the daily nick nacks.
The h was fine so was H but i didn't feel the love or romance.
The issues were given more importance rather than the protagonists.
July 25, 2018
The German accent is all wrong. Could not keep reading!
June 16, 2019
This is a very engaging novel sending one stubborn German woman from her homeland to Plum Creek, Oregon. Hired by the mistress of the house as a mother's helper, Erika Scharf arrives to find a home shrouded in gloom and sorrow. Mrs. Callender has recently died, leaving her husband bereft and lost. He does not want to love the baby, or anyone else, because of the emotional pain he is experiencing.
Dr. Jonathan Callender does not want to hire Erika, but she has nowhere to go if he refuses. Erika immediately sets about to convince the doctor that he (and his daughter) need her.
This is a moving story about Erika's patience and the love she showers on the Callender's family. Erika and Jonathan are such opposites but the author weaves their learning and emotional growth into a lovely story.
Dr. Jonathan Callender does not want to hire Erika, but she has nowhere to go if he refuses. Erika immediately sets about to convince the doctor that he (and his daughter) need her.
This is a moving story about Erika's patience and the love she showers on the Callender's family. Erika and Jonathan are such opposites but the author weaves their learning and emotional growth into a lovely story.
October 15, 2011
Not much to say about this one. It had a little more depth than other romance novels, but still .. it lacked for me
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews