Finding Emma Books In Order

Publication Order of Finding Emma Books

Finding Emma Series
Finding Emma is a literary series by Steena Holmes, a Calgary resident who spent her childhood in Bervie. Steena studied at Kincardine District Secondary School, and is a Theology graduate of Eastern Pentecostal Bible College. Steena, who uses the Scrivener writing software, also uses the pseudonym J.M. Jack and acknowledges Margie Lawson’s master classes.

Steena’s husband inspired her to start writing when, in 2005, he prompted her to participate in a writing contest organized by Word Alive, where her romance entry won—a publishing contract. Romance, mystery and suspense are the niches of Steena—she has also a cover designer since 1995—whose literary influences include Karen Marie, Lawson Timmer, Kimberly Belle, and James Rollins.

Books in the Finding Emma Series
Since her debut in October 2005, Steena has published many books; ranging from several standalone novels to bestselling serialized works that include the Memory series, Stillwater Bay series, and, most notably, the Finding Emma series whose inspiration was Steena’s shock after thinking she had lost her daughter.

First dated March 14, 2012; Finding Emma is the first book in the similarly-titled series. The protagonist is Megan who has been searching daily for her kidnapped daughter Emma—then aged three, she was the last born in a family of three girls: firstborn Alexis and second-born Hannah—for the past two years, resulting in a mental breakdown that not only risks her marriage but also strained children.

Emma and Megan had been in their kitchen together shortly before her abduction. Megan’s obsession with the search irks her husband Peter, prompting him to—in a bid to force her to make peace with their child’s abduction and re-focus on the rest of the family—warn her of his looming walk out of their marriage. Still finding Emma, the determined Megan coincidentally visits a fair where she sees—and photographs—a child whom she believes is Emma who turns out had been living with a an overprotective and introverted couple that was the girl’s grandparents.

Initially dated November 12, 2012, Dear Jack is book 1.5. The main characters are Jack Henry and his wife Dorothy “Dottie” Henry. Jack is summoned to fight in a war, leaving behind his emotionally attached Dottie—alongside their child Mary who is now Megan—who writes down her thoughts in letters. She does not mail the letters to him, but, instead, compiles them into a journal that she hopes he will read upon his return.

Unfortunately for Dottie, her husband fails to return after the war; one of his military unit’s fellow soldiers brings back items belonging to Jack who is declared missing in action. Subsequently, Jack’s friend Doug marries Dottie—her military husband was wrongfully supposed dead—and becomes Megan’s step-father, which may have motivated the Dottie (angered after knowing Jack lived on) to, later on in her life, abduct the missing Emma (Dottie’s granddaughter) in the prequel.

Originally dated January 1, 2013, Emma’s Secret is book two. Now aged five, Emma has since been found and brought back home. It is revealed that Dottie chanced on, and abducted, her granddaughter Emma—who was tired after wandering alone—while driving to Kinrich for shopping.
Dottie took Emma to the home she shared with the confused Jack; the old couple thought the girl resembled Mary/Megan although they did not know she had a child whom they referred to as their second, precious gift, and little girl Emmie.

Unfortunately, Emma reunites with siblings and parents that she no longer remembered—elder sister Hannah is protective of the Emma, Alexis is hostile to Emma, and father Peter is yet to bond with the girl. Worse still, Emma prefers her kidnappers over her closest family, especially Jack whom she refers to as papa. Unbeknown to Megan, Peter—he also has an extramarital affair with her business associate Samantha, which his wife suspects—facilitates meetings between Emma and Jack who has since been widowed after Dottie’s death soon after Emma was reunited with her family.
First dated August 12, 2013, Dottie’s Memories is book 2.5. This small book imagines Dottie’s thoughts during and after kidnapping Emma, and also reveals that Dottie—she had dementia—longed to die. In the beginning, the plot reveals that Dottie was jealous of the father-daughter relationship that had developed between Jack and their then small daughter Mary.

Dottie—she felt left out when Mary clung to, and shared secrets with, Jack—wanted to recreate that bond with Emma. Dottie, who yearned for those memories, is still bitter at Jack for running away after the war and her marriage to Doug. Unfortunately for Dottie, the newly-abducted Emma bonded with—and clung to—Jack more than her, just like the girl’s mother Mary who fell out with the hopeless Dottie whom the former saw as an incarnated devil.
Initially dated December 16, 2014; Megan’s Hope is the third book, wherein Emma’s beloved papa Jack is on his deathbed. The lonely, widowed Jack bonds with his only other family—the befriending Megan and Peter’s household.
When the moment of Jack’s death came but the others were not ready to let go of him, Emma permitted her papa to die to reunite with his wife Dottie whom he looked forward to meet.
Awards
In 2012, the book Finding Emma won in the Fiction category of the National Indie Excellence Award.
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