Claim by Lisa T. Bergren

Sadly, I finished the last book in Lisa T. Bergren's Homeward Trilogy Series, Claim.  I loved this series which includes Breathe and Sing (you can view these reviews on my blog as well). This is a fantastic series about God's love and the love of a family. Let's get to my review!

From Barnes and Noble: 

Overview:

Sent west by their father to make a new life, the St. Clair siblings have done so—but hardly as he’d wished. Beautiful, headstrong Moira, after pursuing a career on the Paris stage, has returned to Colorado Springs—older, wiser, and certainly much poorer—to see if there’s anything left of a relationship she’d left behind. Older sister Odessa and her husband, Bryce, are struggling to rebuild their ranch after a devastating winter. And then Nic, the prodigal son, turns up—broken, haunted, and sick about leaving his sisters.           
At last the family is reunited. But Dominic is still at loose ends, seeking a peace that has always eluded him. Only as he mines an old claim deep in the Rocky Mountains and begins a romance with a local schoolteacher does he begin to understand how passionately he is loved—by God, his family, and a good woman. But even as he relinquishes his fury, Nic discovers there is one last battle to fight…

My Review:  As I said in the beginning, this was a very satisfying end to a series about three siblings and their fight for their lives. This book focused more on Dominic and Moira's struggle to return home and seek what they have been trying to find for years - peace.  I loved reading about how God was working in each of their lives.  You could see God wearing each of them down and bringing them back into the fold.  But my favorite part of the story was watching Dominic grow to love, to learn to claim God's will for his life. That's what this book's subtle Christian theme was: claiming what God has in store for you and letting Him lead your life through faith in Him.

Lisa T. Bergren makes her characters believable  She makes them real.  She has a way of making the settings, characters, and plot feel so real and relatable. I admire that in any author. I really enjoyed this book, but I wish more of it was about Dominic. I felt like she focused a lot more on Moira than necessary, but that's ok. It didn't diminish my love of the family or this book. Go check it out! It's absolutely fantastic!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/claim-lisa-bergren/1100570547?ean=9781434702241

Upcoming Review:  Be Still My Soul, The Cadence of Grace Series #1 by Joanne Bischof

Sing by Lisa T. Bergren

Hello everyone! It's been awhile, I know. School... it just gets in the way. :p  I was finally able to finish the second book in Lisa T. Bergren's Homeward Trilogy Series, Sing.  Let's get to the review!!

From Barnes and Noble:

Overview:

Moira St. Clair has done exactly what her father forbade her to do: chased her dreams to sing on the stage. But even as her star rises, she becomes more vulnerable to those who wish to use her—or bring her down….

It is 1886, and the St. Clairs are living out their dreams in three very separate parts of the world—Paris, Brazil and Colorado. And while each has found a measure of success and joy, each is haunted by past sins and secrets.Once home in Colorado, the St. Clairs struggle to learn what it means to sing praise to God—even in the face of tremendous loss—and trust Him in all things, even when forced to fight for their very lives.

My Review:  This book was hard for me to get in to.  I found Moira to be self-centered, selfish, and immature.  I was also VERY disappointed at the choices she made in this book.  However, I took a step back for a minute and really focused on the message of Moira's story.  Aren't we all a bit selfish, immature, and self-centered sometimes? Who was I to judge (yes, judge a fictional character) Moira when I myself have been guilty of the same traits? After I came to that realization, I was able to get into the story more.  Moira made some bad choices. She, like everyone else, thought God was no longer interested in her and wouldn't want anything to do with her. How wrong was she!  Even after all she had done, God whispers to her "I AM grace." That gave me chills! I AM GRACE. Those three simple words. God wants us to realize that HE is grace and we need to sing praises to him and trust in him no matter what comes our way! Isn't it great to know there is one bigger than us to help us and to lean on in our lives?

It was nice to visit with Odessa and Bryce and Dominic again as well.  Odessa and Bryce face their share of problems in this book too, but Odessa faithfully reminds Bryce that God gives us life. This passage struck me enough to want to quote it for you: "But it is God that grants us life. We must praise Him, Bryce. Even when it's hard. Even when all seems dark. We must remember what is good, what is true, rather than believe fears and half-truths. That is how we cope with the day. That is how we keep living our lives the way He would have us live them, embracing them rather than just surviving them." Each character struggles to grasp the meaning of rejoicing and singing in the Lord's grace and mercy.  Each character continues to grow, and we get to watch all three of them evolve into the men and women the Lord is shaping them to be. Lisa T. Bergren provided another excellent book with well thought-out plots, intriguing characters, and enough action to not make it boring.  

Check it out here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sing-lisa-bergren/1100570546?ean=9780781404372

Upcoming review:  Claim (Homeward Trilogy #3)

Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren

Howdy folks! Boy, has it been an interesting week here. We had a huge storm come in on Thursday evening (when I first intended to post this blog) that knocked out my Internet. Friday, it was time to do my homework I had been putting off all week (boo!). So, now that I've finished my homework for the week, it's finally time to sit down and write this review! I've also been researching on Google+ and gotten some very good ideas to implement on my blog. So here it goes!!

This week's book is called Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren. I have not read any of her books previously, but downloaded the second book in the trilogy, Sing. Now, if you're like me at all, you can't just jump into book 2 of a series when you KNOW it's not the first one! So, I did my research and downloaded the whole trilogy (so look for review #2 within the next week!).

From Barnes and Noble:

Overview

Devastated by the loss of four sons to tuberculosis and his wife in childbirth, a Philadelphia patriarch sends his three living children west in 1883 to make a new life in the clean mountain air of Colorado Springs. Odessa is struggling to survive consumption; Moira is beautiful and dangerously headstrong; and pugnacious Dominic is charged with establishing a new arm of the family business-a business he doesn't want. Readers will love The Homeward Trilogy, in which the St. Clair siblings struggle to follow where the heavenly Father leads them. In Breathe, Odessa arrives at a famous sanitarium seeking a cure for the disease that killed her brothers. While Moira and Nic establish themselves in Colorado Springs society, Dessa inches her way back to health . . . and into love with a soft spoken fellow patient, rancher Bryce McAllan. When she witnesses a murder-in the very hospital where she is recuperating-and other patients begin to die, Dessa struggles to breathe again. She'd always expected to die young, but now that she has a reason to live, can she hold on to her fragile health to solve the mystery?

My Review:  This book is fantastic. It has it all. Love. Mystery. A touch of Christianity. It's the story of three siblings, told from all three points of view. I thought I might find this distracting, but I didn't. It actually added to the story and made you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens!  When Odessa arrives in Colorado Springs, you're thinking, WE JUST MET THIS CHARACTER! IT CAN'T END ALREADY! And you're glad when it doesn't. The mystery is intriguing, the love story is sweet and subtle, the bond between the siblings is one I can relate to (having a sister of my own). I love how they affectionately call each other "sissy" and "brother." The Christian undertone of the book cannot be denied, but it's not overwhelming in any sense, and I related to each characters struggle to accept that God wants us to live, to breathe, and to accept his creations and his path for our lives, come what may. I loved the ending and am eager to finish the second book as well. The book is well written, the characters are just beginning to grow (as all three books will feature points of view from all three siblings) but are already lovable and I'm rooting for them. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I hope you do too!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/breathe-lisa-t-bergren/1100570534?ean=9781434767080

Upcoming Review: Sing (Homeward Trilogy Series, #2)