River's Song

By: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Abington Press
Publish Date: August 2011
Review Run Date: Indefinite

River's Song is the first book in Ms. Carlson's series, The Inn at Shining Waters. Set in 1957, this is a story about a woman who has faced many challenges in her life, and now is struggling to understand who she is, and what she wants from life.

Anna Gunderson married at a young age for love. Tragically, her husband is seriously injured in the war, and Anna spends a difficult season tending to her husband while living under the roof of her autocratic mother-in-law. After her husband dies, followed by the deaths of her parents, Anna slips the bonds of her enslavement to her mother-in-law and returns to to her childhood home on the banks of the Siuslaw River in Oregon.

River's Song is a wonderful story about the power of this river to bring healing and renewal of purpose to Anna. The reader is drawn to Anna's character; she has experienced so much heartbreak that her ability to even desire healing for herself is questionnable. Thankfully, Anna develops a small support system who encourage her along the road to wholeness

Hurricanes in Paradise

By: Denise Hildreth Jones
Publisher: Tyndale House
Publish Date: May 2010

This book was a compelling read. The four protagonists, all women of varied ages and background, happen to become acquainted at a hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Each of their individual stories keep the reader's interest, and the intersection of their lives for one week during hurricane season is the foundation of this book.

Riley is the Guest Services Manager at the Atlantis Hotel. It is her responsibility to make sure that the hotel's most important guests are kept happy during their stay at the hotel. The special guests to be looked after the week of this story include a well-known author, Laine, with an inflated ego, a widow, Winnie, struggling to come to terms with the circumstances of her life, and a young model, Tamyra, despairing from relationship difficulties she must face back home.

Ms. Hildreth Jones tackles serious subjects in Hurricanes in Paradise, such as forgiveness, trust, and fear. She also allows the protagonists' to come to terms with their Christian faith in the book. All of the women have been exposed to Christianity at some point in their lives but their personal faith walks' are quite different from each other. The author weaves the Christian message throughout the book but it is done with grace and thoughtfulness.