River's Call

Today's post is part of a Blog Tour highlighting the second book in MelodyCarlson's The Inn at Shining Waters series - River's Call.  The first book in the series was River's Song.

Book Synopsis:
What happens when the ties between generations are severed?
It is the 1960's and Anna's daughter, Lauren, is confused, broken-hearted, and pregnant.  The difficult situation seems to bring out the worst in the selfish girl.  When Lauren chooses to stay with her manipulative Grandma Eunice, Anna worries her daughter will never become a mature adult and the relationship between Lauren, Anna and Eunice becomes even more strained.  However, when she hits the lowest point in her life, Lauren returns to her mother, the river, and the Inn and Shining Waters.  Now a mother to her own defiant teenager, Lauren faces a new crisis, one that puts the entire family at risk.

 Melody Carlson published her first book in 1995 and she has been writing prolifically ever since.  To date, Melody has published over 200 books, making her one of the top 20 most prolific authors of all time.  With total sales of over 5 million her award-winning books include:  Homeward, Love Finds You in Sisters, Oregon; Limelight; the Diary of a Teenage Girl Series; the True Colors series; and the Carter House Girls series.

In her professional life, Melody has worn many hats:  from pre-school teacher to political activist to senior editor.  Currently, she writes full-time, and freelances from her home.  She has two grown sons and lives in Sisters, Oregon with her husband, Chris, and Audrey, her yellow lab.  They enjoy skiing, hiking, and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.  You can learn more about Melody and her writing at her website found at www.melodycarlson.com. 

My Thoughts About The Book:
I will temper my comments with the fact that I have not read the first book in this series.  With that said, I really had a hard time connecting with the characters and story in River's Call.  The storyline was simple and the characters lacked depth.  Ms Carlson skipped large chunks of time in telling the story.  For me, this made the story choppy and not flow very well.  The story just ends very abruptly.  There were also some editing snafu's in several places.  River's Call does bring up some interesting and emotional topics:  teen pregnancy, teen rebellion, family discord and passing down a family's heritage.  The book includes a good set of discussion questions making this a good selection for a book club.  The reader also gets the first chapter of River's End, the final book in this series.

You can order River's Call at Amazon.com by going HERE.

Thank you LeAnn Hamby with Glass Road Publications for sending me a copy of this book for the purpose of review and participation in today's blog tour!

Happy Reading,
Jennifer