River's Call

Title: RIVER’S CALL
Author: Melody Carlson
Publisher: Abingdon Press
February 2012
ISBN: 978-1426712678
Genre: Inspirational/women’s fiction

Its 1959 and Anna and her new-husband Clark have just returned from their honeymoon. Anna is not expecting to get a call from her college-age daughter, Lauren. Lauren claims to have the flu, but she wants her mommy—so Anna goes up to the college to pick her up. Lauren’s condition is odd; she is sick in the morning and feels great the rest of the day. Anna suspects pregnancy, so she takes Lauren to the doctor where her suspicions are confirmed.

Lauren is insisting on getting an abortion since having a baby without being married is not accepted back then. And despite Anna’s attempts to help and encourage her daughter, Lauren is hateful.

Is there any hope of this troubled teenager and the newlywed couple having a happy-ever-after?

RIVER’S CALL is book two in The Inn at Shining Waters series. Readers will want to read book one first as this book is a continuation. Readers might not get lost without reading the first book, but they’ll definitely be out of the loop a bit.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did the first book. I found this book by Melody Carlson’s more telling than usual and I wasn’t drawn into the story. I’m not really sure I buy the attitude of Lauren—if she felt great all day, except in the morning, why didn’t she stay in school? Why did she whine for mommy and then treat her mom so badly when mom jumps to rescue her. And Lauren’s grandmother is just plain hateful. Anna is realistic, ashamed of the stigma of having a pregnant daughter outside of marriage, but yet she realizes she can’t hide it so she talks about it with her husband and close friends.

I wish I could say that I loved this book, but I didn’t. Still—if you are looking for a women’s fiction—or just plain love Melody Carlson and devour everything she writes, then you will want to buy RIVER’S CALL. $14.99. 315 pages.