Emma's Dream

Morgan's Run #1

by M. Lee Prescott

A woman is the last thing on Ben Morgan’s mind as he comes home to Morgan’s Run, his family’s ranch in Saguaro Valley. Doctor’s orders, he’s home to heal, but the sooner he can get back to Santa Barbara, the better. Then he runs into Maggie Williams on Main Street, prompting vivid memories of a magical night, and Ben’s ailing heart skips a beat.

Father of her beloved five year old daughter, the eldest of the Morgan sons is the last person Maggie expects to have crash into her car and back into her life. For years, she has struggled to forget him and to make a life for herself and her daughter, Emma, the mirror image of a father, who is unaware of her existence. Now, here he is, looking more gorgeous than the day he ran out of town. Maggie swears Ben Morgan will never break her heart again.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Ebooks, Second Chance, Amazon, Westerns

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2015

About the author

“You only live once – but if you work it right, once is enough.”
– Joe E. Lewis


Hello, friends and generous readers!

Welcome to my Goodreads page! I write romances, mysteries, suspense, and women’s fiction. Grab one of my books and see what you think. Are you a fan of humorous, first-person mysteries? Readers have lots of fun with Ricky Steele (Prepped to Kill, Gadfly, Jigsaw, Lost in Spindle City, and Poof!). How about small-town cozy mysteries? Join Roger and Bess (A Friend of Silence, In the Name of Silence, and The Silence of Memory) in the village of Old Harbor where murders occur almost as much as in Cabot Cove. (Roger and Bess Mysteries).

Did someone say romance? Aside from stand-alone romances like Widow’s Island and Hestor’s Way, I write two popular romance series -- Morgan’s Run (twelve books and counting) and Morgan’s Fire (seven titles with more on the way!). Morgan’s Run books are set in the beautiful U.S. southwest and are peopled with gorgeous cowboys and strong, contemporary women. The spin-off series, Morgan’s Fire moved some of the gang east to the New England coastal village of Horseshoe Crab Cove where the romance sizzles and amazing couples find their way to happily ever after.

I also have a YA title, Song of the Spirit, an award-winning historical romance that explores the kidnapping, torture, and enculturation of indigenous children in so-called “Indian schools.” That book features one of my favorite characters, Wind Flower, a strong resilient teenager who protects her younger sister and holds onto her values and culture, despite the daily cruelties of life at Rose Academy.

I am now retired from teaching, but my scholarly work continues. I am currently writing about my recent research-- the impact of mindfulness on readers and writers. I live on a beautiful river and when not writing, I love to spend time with family and friends, practice yoga, swim, walk, canoe, and teach mindfulness to people of all ages. Life is full!

Come on over and visit -- http://www.mleeprescott.com-- to explore and signup for my newsletter. I love to hear from readers and always respond so be in touch anytime! Follow me on BookBub https://bit.ly/3AImHzS

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please excuse me for a minute while I bang my head into the wall...


Okay, now that that's out of my system, let's talk about this book. Maggie is a 23 year old horse trainer, and mother of a disabled 4 year old. Maggie got knocked up at 18 by the H who was 26, they then had an argument and he left town- which was already in his plans before they had the drunken one night stand. She also leaves town and goes to college, which is completely irrelevant in her woe-is-me mindset. Ben doesn't contact her, and she never reaches out to him. His lack of contact makes her feel justified in never letting him, or his family know she's having his child. Chick even works on his family farm, and sees his family members on a daily basis. It's not like Ben or his family are bad people, or have done anything horrible in the past- she's just disgruntled he never called her so apparently this is proof enough they are unworthy of knowing he is a father.
If that isn't stupid enough for you, Maggie's daughter, Emma, is disabled in a car crash, and she can't afford getting her treatment that could heal her. Does she reach out to Ben or his parents who are very wealthy to ask if they might consider helping? Nope! They haven't been there for the child, so why should she ask for their help now? (Once again, completely irrelevant she never told them, and gave them a chance). Surely her pride is more valuable than her daughter's quality of life. I know if it were my son, I'd be okay explaining in 20 years that I didn't get him help because I was being butt-hurt.
Over and over Maggie proves that she has the emotional maturity of a balloon animal. She doesn't know Ben's plans for the future, and instead of asking, she just makes assumptions that justify her not telling him about his kid. When she does tell him then she's upset that he doesn't speak to her for a few days. She also gets annoyed when he offers to help pay for the kid's care, annoyed he wants a relationship, annoyed other women look at him, annoyed he wants to bring her to family gatherings, annoyed she is attracted to him, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed. Poor guy is doing everything in his power to be good enough for her, and she's just a miserable excuse for a woman.
I could have liked this book if Maggie was not in it. Also if the author didn't constantly interject dialogue with 'his beloved', 'her lover', 'my darling', 'my sweetness'. I gagged more than a few times.

[Lorrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

As I usually do, I'll critique/review as I go (but I'm sure if you've read any of my other critiques/reviews, I only tend to do this with books that are, well, less than stellar).

OK. As much as I absolutely loathe the 'girl gets pregnant and doesn't tell the guy because he left town' plot lines, I'll let it slide just this once, and only because there are other writing sins that take precedence. First, Ben has got to be a bit of an idiot if he can't put two and two together that Emma is his daughter just from how long he was gone and how old she is. Seriously, what kind of a moron doesn't at least have a niggling doubt he could be the father with just the ages/dates he's been given? I've said it before and I'll say it again, treating the reader like we're complete morons will earn a very low final rating from me.

Second, the formatting. I don't usually comment on this as 99% of the books I read these days are ebooks, so formatting tends to be wonky at the best of times. However, there is something that has been driving me absolutely batshit crazy with this book. Does the author even know what a chapter is? My gut tells me no because there are 72 fucking chapters in this book. 72. The average romance novel is 60,000 words ish (most these days will only get to 60k if you include the 2 chapter excerpt from their next crappy novel in the wordcount). Kobo tells me it will take me 3 hours to read this book based on how fast it took me to read previous books on my Kobo reader, which tells me it's probably not even 60k words. So let's do a little math shall we... 60,000 words divided by 72 chapters gives us a ballpark average of under 750 words a chapter. What the actual fuck? A scene snippet does not a chapter make. This sort of shitastic formatting just makes the author look like a complete amateur and screams self-published drek. I can't see any respectable editor letting this sort of thing remain in the final proofs, let alone a finished, published book.

Third. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the author has NEVER been around or spoken with kids under 5 before EVER. This is another what the actual fuck moments. No 4 year old is going to talk the way Emma talks in this book. NONE. Not even the most gifted. She talks like a teen, not a preschooler who only recently started using complete sentences. When they are sitting in the diner, what Emma should have been saying to Ben is something along the lines of 'Hi. My name is Emma. Do you like unicorns? I like unicorns. Mommy says they're not real but she doesn't know nothing. There are unicorns on XYZ TV show that I watch after school so they must be real, right? My favorite color is purple. And mommy says I can have ice cream if I eat all my vegetables. Do you like ice cream? Chocolate is my favorite. With lots of sprinkles' (and of course picture that as one big long run on sentence where Emma barely breathes let alone pauses long enough for anyone else to get in a word edgewise. Strike two on the treating the reader like a complete and utter moron scorecard.

I don't usually come across a mistake in science in a romance novel, but this one had a doozy (mistakes in science are absolutely inexcusable in this day in age, what with Google and all). This one isn't even some stupid obscure point in fact, but something that should be common knowledge. Fast forward to when Maggie and Ben take Emma for her tests, and Rose starts explaining about blood types of the relevant parties and donor requirements. You'd have to have been living under a rock to not know that O blood type is universal. if Maggie is type O, then SHE can donate to Emma... (it wasn't said whether Emma was B + or -, but if she is +, then there is no issues AT ALL with using Maggie's blood.) Don't be lazy and do your own damn homework if you're going to include shit like this in your book.

So, let's talk characters now. There is nothing I hate more than a whiney, sniveling, spoiled brat character who thinks the entire world is out to get her. And that, my friend is EXACTLY what Maggie is. Every time she opens her mouth some inane, childish comment comes out of it. I can't stand her, and the book might be somewhat palatable if she was written completely out of the thing (which might make things a little more difficult considering this is a romance novel, and she is supposed to be the leading lady). If I was Ben, I would have walked (no, ran) in the opposite direction as Maggie and her bi-polar lunatic ravings.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another novel that seems to have far too many highlighted passages now I am ready to write a review.

Looking back on the story my overall impression was of a relatively frothy predictable chick-lit romance, but there were too many uncomfortable moments for me to be able to say I liked it.

• Maggie is talking to her assistant and tells him that the daughter (Emma - she of the title!) is not making much progress in therapy and has outgrown her third wheelchair. Err… Wouldn’t the assistant already know that? These are two people who work together. Just a minor point but something that made me re-read in order to work out what was happening.

• Ben is looking for his mother, and as he turns a corner :: there she was, standing beside the clunker, talking on her cell phone. She was bare-headed now, her sunglasses perched atop her head, holding back her long, thick chestnut mane… And again, I had to re-read before I realised the woman was Maggie, not his mother. Sloppy.

• We are told that Carmela - a talented, inventive chef had worked for the family since she was a teenager, living with her husband Raoul in one of the cottages. And she and Raoul had thus ’adopted’ Ben and his five siblings as their own. And that is more or less all we learn about Carmela. She pops up now and again, making incredibly fancy meals, providing picnics at the drop of a hat, and yet she is more or less consigned to the background - despite having given over 40 years of her life to the family. There was something profoundly wrong with that. She seemed to be relegated to the position of lowly servant or worse.

• Then we have this: ‘Out here a woman disgraced is damaged goods.’ Perhaps I should have stopped reading at that point. This is a supposedly prosperous, well-known ranch, providing holidays to the rich and famous and the mother STILL has that attitude? Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

• And then Leonora ( who made the ‘damaged goods’ comment) has this to say. She hadn’t a clue what hold Maggie Williams had over her eldest, but she wasn’t about to allow him to throw his life away on a harlot. She had plans for him and they didn’t include a relationship with a stable hand. What a wonderful, compassionate, caring, forgiving, understanding mother - not.

• Ben is a vegetarian. He eats trout.

• He has sex with Maggie. He has been away for 5 years and has been in other relationships but hey! She’s on the pill so no need for a condom. Yeah Right.

• Ben is very wealthy. He offers to help her with paying for Emma’s treatment, and she turns him down. THEN he says ‘ [if] .. you consider a loan. I could arrange very favourable terms. WTF?? I mean… he offers to give her the money and when she turns him down says she can have a loan - at very favourable terms?? Why the hell can’t he loan her the money and say - pay me back with no interest??

• There are numerous places where the point of view shifts from one character to another - in fact in Chapter 44 there is one scene with three differing povs in the space of two pages.

• A huge picnic stored in the back courtesy of Carmela… poor overworked, under appreciated Carmela! On a personal note I had serious concerns about the way Carmela was written. I felt extremely uncomfortable about some aspects, particularly knowing how narrow-minded and bigoted her mistress was (I nearly said 'owner' there.)

There are all the clichés one expects:

- mother of sick child who has kept child’s existence secret from the father who had been away making his millions and returns to help sick father
- several siblings all with their own emotional problems (cannon fodder for a whole series of books about the family)
- a jealous ex-fiancée who turns up to muddy the budding relationship

And Carmela - the woman who had ‘adopted’ Ben and his siblings and who provides all the food etc and who is never really ‘there’ in the book isn’t even asked to make the wedding cake. Now THAT really pissed me off.

Crikey. I started this review thinking I was going to go with maybe 2.5 stars rounded up to three. But the more I think now about Carmela and the way she was relegated to the background and the way Ben’s mother was so utterly crass and ignorant and sanctimonious, I can’t.

[Nancy Stopper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. Writing was stiff and author bounced between points of view, sometimes from sentence to sentence. It was hard to keep track of who was thinking what. Premise was interesting but execution lacking.

[Julie Pippert · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Bad book. Bad heroine. Contrived plot. Weak writing.

Another romance where a woman hides a pregnancy and child from the boyfriend/father.

This time the woman lets her child miss possible medical treatments the father can well afford and lives paycheck to paycheck out of pride and fear of her own heart breaking again. Waah waah

There's no prologue or flashback nor explanation of the romance that produced the child. So we are left with a summer fling when both parties went off to their own next life step. So the heartbreak is why?

At one point there's a sort of implication she would have stayed but he wouldn't.

Still. No excuse for her lying and hiding, especially when the man is depicted as a pretty good guy.

You just don't buy it.

It makes Maggie look weak, and cruel to Ben and their daughter in that weakness.

IMHO there better be a DARN GREAT reason for hiding a child from a father, especially if the child has a crucial need the father can fulfill.

So. Halfway through and bailing on the book. I can't stand weak mealy mouthed heroines who swan through a story leaving hurt and destruction behind due to insecurity, pride, and so forth.

But we are supposed to love and root for her.

Please build characters with character and intelligence and some maturity.

Even if I could suspend my annoyance at the heroine, the writing is kind of hard to overcome. It feels like reading the equivalent of a bad phone connection. Wait how did they get there? What caused that to happen? They did what? Why?

One second the heroine is plotting to avoid the hero, who is baffled and hurt by her antipathy, and the next they're rolling in passion completely in love and in a relationship.

He's pledging to her and the next second she's acting like she's the side bit of fluff. Huh? Why?

Because she's so insecure.

It's like the hero and heroine aren't even in the same story.

Throw in an interfering snobby mother, b*tchy interfering ex, and it all plays up to Insecure Heroine's weak spots so she's even nuttier and mean but we should understand our poor professional Victim.

Ugh. Ick.

Well another disappointment. I had such high hopes with this one. It had such great reviews.

At least it was free and I didn't lose much time as I bailed halfway through.

I just wish more writers would create admirable heroines in strong stories.

[Sometime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt a little unpolished but I liked the characters and the ranch setting.

Maggie drove me crazy at times. Who gets pregnant and doesn't tell the father or family? Her daughter deserves to have a father in her life. Ben should've been way more angry than he was. Then she refuses any money from Ben to help her (their) daughter. Wouldn't you do anything for your child especially if it comes from the dad who has that responsibility anyway? She was stubborn to a fault. The sexy scenes were a little blah and full of purple prose. Ben kept calling her "Darling". Who says that? It just felt forced.

The insta love was a problem for me too. After not seeing him for 5 years her first thoughts are how sexy he is and how she can't control her hormones. And there are other characters that haven't seen each other for years but are brokenhearted when they get together. Really, how can you love him so much when you haven't spoken in years and never had a relationship in the first place? Sounds more like infatuation to me. This author just rushed the romantic relationships too much and gave them meaning where they hadn't earned it.

I did love Emma and the plot involving her and her accident. She was sweetie. The supporting characters were great too. I'd love to know more about their stories.

Overall, this book was not perfect but I enjoyed reading about this family.

[Tammy Moldovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben and Maggie - a sweet story

3.5 stars. This is the first book in the Morgan’s Run series. Ben Morgan has a full life in California but a recent severe panic attack has him returning to his family’s ranch, Morgan’s Run, to de-stress. Maggie Williams works as a horse trainer at Morgan’s Run. Maggie and Ben had one night together before she left for college which resulted in her daughter Emma who is paralyzed after an accident. When Ben returns to town and runs into Maggie the instant chemistry and overwhelming feelings has him wondering why he did not pursue her five years ago. Emma is more reluctant to allow Ben into her life and get her heart broken again. Overall I liked the book and the characters. There was a lot of push and pull between the H and h which at times seemed too childish for the age of the characters especially on Maggie’s part. There was also a bunch of side tangents that did not really add to the story. On the way to their HEA, there was growth for the characters and the story included sweet moments, sexy times, family drama, low level stress and love. I enjoyed the story enough to read the next book in the series.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (11/4/2020)! 🎁

[Camille]

DNF. With 10% of this audiobook left, I’m throwing in the towel because I don’t give even hint of a shit about what happens at the end of this book. Just too sickly sweet for me. One more “my darling” and I’d throw up in my mouth.

Pet peeves: poor editing of the audiobook-I don’t like to hear repeated phrases back to back. The editor just didn’t cut those from the final product. This audiobook has a lot of those. Also-I just plain didn’t like the narrator. That’s a Me issue and an easy one to fix-I can avoid her work moving forward. But the experience did remind me to pay attention to that when sampling audiobooks. The narrator really wields a lot of influence over my total enjoyment of a story-this one is a great example of that.

[Daniela Bernaldo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the story, but the way that it was written keeps me from giving it a higher rating. I often got lost on who was speaking or whose thoughts I was reading. Despite that, I loved the story; it was heartbreakingly beautiful.

[Christine Meunier · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read though I would have loved to see more of the horse side explored - it ends with this seeming like a real possibility in the main characters' future. Not sure I related to how quickly the two got together after such a long absence apart but the story ended well.

[Marissa Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Maggie and Ben's story. I loved the feel of a small town book and this was just great. Can't wait to read more about Ben's family in the next books!

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and great read.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming read.

A sweet read that tugs at your heartstrings and a cute little girls that steals your heart. Two people with a second chance at their HEA. A well written read with good characters and a nice storyline.

[John Statham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good luck Lee

You are a wonderful writer So very believable. Great characters. Your writing is very descriptive and powerful.
I loved this book. It's the best I've read in quite awhile. I know many readers will love it as much as I do. Thanks for a great read Lee. Keep up the good work.

[Toni Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do dreams really come true? Well for Maggie she didn't think so the day Ben showed back up in town after five years . After one night together Maggie's life changed forever only problem is Maggie is keeping a secret from Ben . Wonderful things happen in this book . A must read

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well glad that’s over. Unlikeable fMC, too many sappy endearments , poor editing throughout, and a horrible Morgan Matriarch (whose earlier awfulness is never actually resolved or confronted, it’s just overlooked by the end and not mentioned again.)

But Maggie truly makes this book difficult to like. Five years ago, she and Ben had a one-night stand before he left for CA and she left for Princeton. 2 months later, Maggie returns to AZ pregnant.
Fast forward five years and Ben is returning to his hometown for some R&R (doctor’s orders). Maggie has been living, working on Ben’s family farm, and raising their 4yo daughter, Emma, this whole time, never breathing a word about Ben being the father to anyone other than Ned (Maggie’s dad who retired to help with Emma). Why Ben at 27yo wanted to sleep with Maggie at 18yo, I do not know, except lust I guess, annd according to the author’s timeline, that’s their initial ages. So they are 23 and 32 now.

Ben has never been told he’s a father. His huge family of 5 siblings and parents who own a farm/ranch have never been told, despite the fact Maggie works for them and they all live in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Plus they say Emma is the spitting image of Ben.
So now that Ben is in town, Maggie is freaking out and debating telling him. Her own father tells her Ben has a right to know, and Maggie agrees, but says she’ll tell him when she has a chance. Oh and she’ll have plenty of chances but does she tell him? Nope!! When she finally, finally gets around to telling Ben that Emma is his, after how many play dates, and Maggie and Ben having sex repeatedly even though she keeps telling herself to stay away from Ben 🙄, Maggie finally tells him.
And you know what, Ben is rightfully upset. He never got a chance to be there. And so he asks for time and space to process this life-altering news. And what does Maggie do, get offended and annoyed and mad at Ben.
So Ben repeatedly has been showing he loves Emma and Maggie, but immature Maggie just keeps holding onto the idea that Ben is going to leave again. Does she communicate with Ben, of course not, she just assumes and thus does inane things to distance herself from him.
Ben, the sucker for punishment that he is, still continues to make changes to his life in CA so he can move back to be with Maggie, Emma and the rest of his family. He continues to try to be with them even as Maggie rebuffs him. I mean at one point, Maggie takes her fears out on him by crying and shouting at him about how he wasn’t there when Emma was a baby and I about wanted to slap the woman because whose fault was that!?

Then you have the not-so-lovely Leonora, mother of Ben who wants to set her son up with a woman of their standing, not some “stable hand” and “harlot” as she refers to Maggie, repeatedly. And Leonora conspires to set her son up and tells Maggie lies. At the end, there’s no mention of her awfulness it’s just, ok she’s grandma and on board with Ben and Maggie.

The “my beloved” and “my darling” etc etc in this book made me want to roll my eyes so much. It was too sappy and not romantic at all.

And then the editing. There were moments throughout, and it’s just annoying to have typos and mentions that don’t make sense. For example, towards the end, Emma goes down for a nap on the picnic blanket outside in the yard, Maggie cover her with her sweater, then pulls Ben into the remodeled house to have sex🙄, where she proceeds to take off her sweater. The same sweater she just covered her child with.

The book idea had promise but the story went downhill fast and was just ended up feeling too long. Will definitely not continue the series and would not recommend to anyone either.

[Stox4story · Rating 4 out of 5]

... And the mama wolf kept her fangs out ready to tear into anyone who messed with her plans … too bad, this time she bit off more than she could chew! Ben’s mother, Lenora, was a control freak as well as a judgmental, arrogant, self-righteous woman. She had a lot to learn...

Eighteen year old Maggie was going places. College bound with academic scholarships assuring her of a brilliant future. Unfortunately those career aspirations were thrown out the window when she realized she was pregnant, unwed and the baby’s father long gone. She quit college and returned home determined to be the best mother around.

And that she was. She underwent the small town’s gossips, humiliation and belittlement and became the mother of a precious little girl named Emma. Between Maggie and grandpa Ned, Emma was in good hands. She was a strong little girl who was crippled from a drunken driver collision two years earlier when she was two years old.

And now enters Ben. He and Maggie had a drunken one night stand at party. Little does he know he’s now a father. He hightailed it out of that small town and never looked back…. UNTIL … medical issues forced him to take a break and get away from his successful but stressful business. He visits home and runs into Maggie, literally 😱

Herein begins the story. There are trust issues, there are family issues and then there’s Emma…. right in the middle of it all. Ben falls in love with Emma and doesn’t even realize he’s her daddy. When he finds out, well let’s just say, he’s not happy. Maggie thought she was protecting Emma by keeping the daddy a secret. She didn’t want Emma to be hurt anymore thinking her precocious daughter had suffered enough. No way she wanted her to to meet her daddy and then lose him. Again, trust issues are big.

Maggie and Ben love their daughter and have a long road to travel if they are to make things work … I hope you enjoy their journey.

👁^👁 OBSERVATIONS/ QUESTIONS❓

… Maggie and Ben had a one night stand. How did he break her heart when he left town? They didn’t date, weren’t friends or anything, so how did he betray her when he didn’t call or check on her?🤔

… Ben’s mother needed a comeuppance, Nuff said❗️

… This is a sweet love story in the making. Lots of doubt, lots of mountains to climb and a journey that wasn’t easy for anyone. And the ending just might have you shed a tear or two.😢

… Maggie needed to let go of her pride and accept some help for her daughter. ♿️

… Dumb, dumb, dumb…. how on earth did Ben think finding his soon to be mother-in-law and inviting her to the wedding would be a good idea?👀😳👀

[moxieBK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emma’s Dream (Morgan’s Run Romances #1) — M. Lee Prescott (71 chapters) May 19-22, 2017

Note: There are a few sexy bits in this story, including physical descriptions of the characters in these situations (and I can't say what these were….it’s both too sexy for this review, and I don’t want to offend sensitive ears.)

This is about as sugary sweet, heterosexual romance as it gets, where the main characters are next boy and girl types, and the plot is of a typical water-down variety. In fact, as I was reading. this, I kept feeling this was written in a Regency style. The male protagonist spoke far too older for his age (ie. “young whipper-snapper.” That’s only something my grandpa would say, not a young late twenty/early thirties male love interest!) Granted, as the story progressed, these characteristics became subdued, but not weird sayings repeated over and over such as “on the dot,” and “darling.”

But yea! for readers who want a turn-of-the-century characters in present time. But boo! for readers who find this way over the top in the ugh! language and style department. I mean, even the kid character was over the top in the “perfect” department (despite her issues.) But the worse part of this story is that the author keeps returning to the same topic over and over again. This doesn’t move the plot; in fact it turns this reader off. it felt like filler to keep the story long.

Not to say this type of story doesn’t have a place in the reading world…it’s just not normally my place, at least not anymore. I must of either been weak when I downloaded this, or else I thought I was buying a different book.

No matter. The chapters are short and the book read fast. This is an under 300 page book, so one could read this on the weekend fairly easily. (I ended up reading three books concurrently when I read this, because there was no other way I was going to get through it.) It just seemed like it was chapters on repeat. Formulaic chapter writing. There was a fair amount of punctuation errors (no period and capitalized word next to each other.) And sometimes I was confused. It felt like there were sections missing from the story. I almost gave up reading this one, but I kept hanging on. But barely, because I sped-read through most of the book. By chapter 33, either the writing was getting better, or I was getting use to the style.

Needless to say: I won’t be continuing this series. I wish I could recommend it to heterosexual sap-lovers. But sappy readers tend to like it vanilla clean, and the sexy bits keep me from that.

Two stars.

[Lenna Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very touching, emotional, funny and all around great story.

5 years Maggie and Ben Jr. Had a drunken one night stand and right after he high tailed it put of town, she also left to go to NJ but a few months later she came bad home to her dad, pregnant. Her life as a mother of a 4 year old Emma was touch but bearable with her father Ned. But a tragic accident left little Emma broken, the driver got off with scraps and not having to pay for the accident or Emma's hospital bills.

Fender bender... Maggie had with some idiot in a range rover caused her to freak out but once she sees who the stranger is he looses it. The one man she always loved the father of here baby girl, Ben Morgan Jr. Back in town and about to mess up her already steady routine.

Ben one doc's orders need months of distressing so his already panic attack won't be the beginning of more and weaken his heart. So he goes home to his family's ranch and a meddling mother that will no doubt have a line of single women lining up for him when she knows he's home. But the only one to catch and meet his attention is the one girl he had a fender bender. After getting out of a 2 year relationship with his ex fiancee he's hesitant to find love. But will he presue Maggie and find out her secret or be the player he was and after his R&R leave his home town and head back to CA to his business and his brand new 3 mill dollar home????

[Birgit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad plot - single mother with a handicapped daughter meets father of said daughter again, and the chemistry between them is still strong.
The telling of this story, however, was too melodramatic to my taste. The characters were too shallow and reacting in a completely unrealistic way, the daughter was too sweet and martyr-like in her suffering, the male protagonist's mother too overbearing and manipulating, without giving a reason or the story behind it, whereas the rest of the family was all "hey look how nice we are".
The protagonists were not unsympathetic, but too superficial for my liking, overreacting to events, and sometimes acting more like juveniles than like adults with responsible positions.
And why! oh why is it that the female protagonist, an adult woman with a child, good in her job, with a smart head on her shoulders, loses every brain cell when meeting her former lover again, just because he's good looking and smells good? Oh puh-lease! Love on first sight, yes; getting a bit carried away with emotions, yes; losing every sense and purpose and even feeling like swooning?
Also, please, could you give the book another search for spelling errors? There were quite a few.
Also: a male "betrothed" is a fiancé, with one e and a ´ over it, a female one is spelled with two e and the first having this ´ , fiancée. This unfortunately is a very common mistake made by a lot of authors nowadays - don't they teach you anything at school?

[Jennifer Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma’s Dream by M Lee Prescott is the first book in the Morgan’s Run Romances series. It is the story of Ben Morgan, who is on his way to his family’s ranch in the Saguaro Valley, Arizona. He has been ordered a few months rest by his doctors. His day back in town, he has a fender bender and the other driver is none other than Maggie Williams. Ben and Maggie had a one stand night many years ago. He left to start his business in California, she left to go to college. But she was back in town working at his family’s ranch. Ben learns she has a 4-year-old daughter, Emma, who has been in a wheelchair after a car accident. It is obvious from the beginning that Emma is Ben’s daughter, but will Maggie tell him? Will she be able to keep it a secret? How will he react? How will his family react?
Emma’s Dream is a nice romance as Ben is immediately drawn to Maggie as he was so many years ago. The characters were fun and relatable. I particularly liked Ben and Maggie. I understood her reluctance to tell Ben even though she knew she would have to in the future. The story was enjoyable and set up future stories in the series. My only complaint is the book had way too many chapters. 71! Granted they were short chapters but most of them could have been combined into larger chapters. Overall, I enjoyed Emma’s Dream and recommend it. I may continue the series if I come across the other titles.

Emma’s Dream
is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved some elements of this book, hated others. Loved that the daughter had a disability and there was no patronisation about it; hated that her mother was too proud to go to the daughter’s father or his parents for financial help for medical intervention when they could afford it and she could not. Yes that pride adds into the problems that need to be overcome in the story, but as a parent sometimes you have to overrule your pride.
What really annoyed me were some of the turns of phrase. This is where a professional editor could have helped. The most grating was in the description of the male protagonist “charming the pants from everyone”. This was used several times. Yes, this is a phrase that is often over-used without thought for what it really means, but, in text, an author needs to ensure it is used correctly. At one stage, “Maggie watched her four-year old fall under the spell of Ben Morgan and marvelled at his capacity to charm the pants off any female from four to fifty.” — That is so wrong! There were several other lines where a thoughtless phrase gave the reader an unwanted inference but this was the one that really grated.
I loved the Morgan family as they popped in and out of this story, so I am not averse to reading more by this author, but I am hoping for tighter control over language.

[Dianne S · Rating 1 out of 5]

By 25% in I was ready to scratch my eyes out if I had to read the word loins or beloved again. Unfortunately I did - a LOT!

The heroine was insecure, whiny, illogical and just downright annoying.

The hero was so stupid that he never even questioned that a child who was 4 years old might be his, considering that he had sex with her mother almost 5 years ago. Not to mention she's the spitting image of him!

There was no relationship build up between the hero and heroine. Which made the hero seem really creepy as he started touching her face, kissing her ear etc right from the get-go. Every time he touched her I just cringed.

Obviously the author has spent no time with young children as 4 year old Emma speaks like a 12 year old. This is one thing that really gets on my nerves in books.

The writing style just felt like I was reading a story the whole time, not even a narration, just a poorly written story. Not once was I ever pulled into it or made to care about the characters.

The only reason I stuck this out to the end (with a lot of page number checking to see how much more I had to endure) was to read Emma's story - the ending of which anyone with half a brain could have predicted down to the last detail.

[Ronnae Stately · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Morgan comes home to be family ranch but before he gets there he has a fender bender. That fender bender puts him in the reach of the young woman he left behind after a one night stand. Unbeknownst to him she had his child who is now paralyzed due to a careless driver. After settling back into a routine at the family owned dude ranch Ben decides to pursue Maggie and finds out about his four year old daughter, Emma. He falls deeply in love with the daughter he never knew about and helps her mother when they decide to see about another surgery that would hopefully help Emma to walk again. As things go in most books it takes time and effort but things don’t look good for Emma at all until the whole clan joins in helping to take care of Emma while she rehabilitates. Maggie realizes she has fallen back in love with Ben and couldn’t live without him so she finally accepts his marriage proposal. Wedding day becomes a miracle when it comes to their daughter walking again and all behind her parents back. This is just the beginning of the Morgan’s saga and there are several
More siblings to go through so I can’t wait to read more about the Morgans.

[SC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long winded

You could easily take out half the book, and it would be an OK read. Does how many sheep they have, what kind the are and what purpose they serve pertain to the story? Not at all, but we get that anyways. I skipped through quite a few pages of pointless writing.

The h goes hot and cold it seems like every other paragraph, that got annoying real fast. If you are thinking that it"s a cowboy book so you'll get an alpha, think again. The H is actually a bit of a pansy. His ex visiting served absolutely no purpose in the story, none. The POV changes from character to character in every paragraph. I'm serious, everyone gets a POV here. The way the H talks to the h is just so utterly ridiculous and hard to believe - who say stuff like my most beloved darling wife in a conversation ? At one point, the author actually writes something along the line of "she looks pale and drawn but she's never looked more beautiful"?

Nope, nope, I would skip this book, it's on the boring side.

[Lorie - Bookaholic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, yet it made me tear up at times. Maggie Williams is a single mom and the last thing she needs is Ben Morgan on her mind as he comes home to Morgan's Run, his family's ranch in Saguaro Valley. Doctor's orders, he's home to heal, but the sooner he can get back to Santa Barbara, the better. Then he runs into Maggie Williams on Main Street, prompting vivid memories of a magical night, and Ben's ailing heart skips a beat. Father of her beloved five year old daughter, the eldest of the Morgan sons is the last person Maggie expects to have crash into her car and back into her life. For years, she has struggled to forget him and to make a life for herself and her daughter, Emma, the mirror image of a father, who is unaware of her existence. Now, here he is, looking more gorgeous than the day he ran out of town. Maggie swears Ben Morgan will never break her heart again. This book makes you put yourself into the story. Read the rest of the series, it won't disappoint by any means.

[Jenny C · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this review a 10 star rating I would. I was completely engulfed in this beautiful love story from the first page. One of those stories, you wish would not end. I loved all the characters in the Morgan family, even over bearing Leonora. Ned and Maggie's endearing father/daughter relationship was too special for words and then we have the strong spirited Emma who was the most adorable little human being. Tears appeared which I have not experienced in a long time, through both the challenging and happy moments. I even grew fond of Tabasco. Rosie's care and support was remarkable. The plot where "Team Emma" unfolded was amazing when both family and friends pulled together, and each person in the team added their magic in Emma's world. When Ben confessed the two people who were in the center of his universe, I had goose bumps! The gift of the children's camp was the cherry on the cake. I do believe I will re-read this novel. Loved this author - thank you and keep on writing for your fans!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Review: I have read a couple of Prescott's books in the past and they were okay but this one sounded like it was a good fit for me. I really enjoyed the setting and the family connection and basis of the story. I did struggle a little bit with some of the decisions Maggie makes, but it is of course fiction so no need to get worked up. Some of the push/pull between Maggie and Ben felt a little forced and the relationship does seem to rush a bit at the beginning. I really enjoyed the different side characters introduced throughout the story and look forward to reading their stories. The conflict in the middle of this story will definitely tug at your heart strings and it is definitely where the book really shines and takes on a more real feel to it. The reactions of the characters and the struggles are a lot more real than many of the romances I have read. Definitely read all the way to the end and have the tissues ready!

[SynergyQuest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maggie is Frustrating

I'm 33% into this book and so frustrated with Maggie, I want to spit! She is selfish and maddening!

SPOILERS
She sleeps with Ben in less time than it takes for his eager, elitist mom to set up his first pseudo blind date and keeps doing it. Yet, she hasn't told him he's the father of her child whom he dotes on constantly. Also, when he begs to pay for the girls treatments, Maggie says, "I just can't let you do that." Your baby is in need of radical treatment, a guy you claim to love, sleep with regularly and who happens to also be said child's father, begs to help and you just can't!!?? SELFISH and no kind of mother! Also, how can you not tell this obviously great guy that he's your child's father. That baby needs a daddy. I'm disgusted and abandoning ship.