Customer Reviews

Morning's Refrain (Song of Alaska)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another excellent book from Tracie Peterson. I wait for her "series" in particular as you always have something more to look forward to at books end. I feel she has great descriptive qualities of both characters and the scenic wonders surrounding the characters in this good read about romance in early Alaska. I felt this book sort of got boring toward the middle and had to urge myself to continue but I knew I would have a third in the series to look forward to. There is both romance and action in this book and characters you won't forget. I suggest this book to any non-stop reader as I am.

This book was a real chore to finish. I wholeheartedly liked the setting in Alaska and the storyline was mildly interesting. The descriptions of the surroundings and climate were good. Unfortunately, the characters are shallow and the dialogue is not realistic. There was a lack of authenticity and believability to the characters. I didn't enjoy the way they all said the perfect things in the perfect way. It was really annoying. I don't recommend this particular book.

I was unsure if I would enjoy the second book Morning's Refrain by Tracie Peterson in the series Song of Alaska because of the negative reviews that I read on this book. But since I had read the first book and enjoyed it, I decided to go ahead and purchase it and read it. Well, I am glad I did because I did enjoy it and look forward to the third book coming out soon.

This story takes place 18 years after the first book ends and is about Dalton Lindquist, the son of Lydia Lindquist. He desires to learn more about his past and who his family was before his mother came to Alaska to live. After much soul searching, he decides to leave Alaska for a time and go back to Kansas City with his Aunt Evie to search out the many dark family secrets. The book, of course, also, has a romantic side to it with Dalton falling in love with a woman named Phoebe.

A while back I wrote a rave review about

Dawn's Prelude by Tracie Peterson

You can read my review for this book here: [...]

I absolutely loved Dawn's Prelude and I gave it 5 out of 5 stars. It is, to date, probably one of my favorite Kindle freebies that I have ever received.

Recently, I contacted Beverly House Publishers and they were kind enough to send me copies of the next two books in the series, Morning's Refrain and Twilight's Serenade to review. I am under no obligation to write a positive review, just an honest one.

So, I have just read and finished

Morning's Refrain by Tracie Peterson

Morning's Refrain is set some 18 years later when Lydia's first child, Dalton, who was born at the end of Dawn's Prelude, is now full-grown at 18 years old.

We learn that Lydia is still happily married to Kjell, that Zerelda is still there caring for her family, and that Lydia's step-daughter, Evie, who brought Dalton back to Alaska in the first book, has remained in Sitka for these past 18 years making her home with Lydia and Kjell, and never having returned to her husband with whom she shared no love in the marriage.

Dalton has always known Kjell was not his biological father and has heard whispers that his birth was surrounded by strange circumstances of the likes that usually do not occur in Sitka. Finally, at 18 years old he believes he is old enough to know why his parents have kept these secrets from him, and what exactly occurred at his birth.

Dalton is shocked to find out that his biological father and the rest of his half-siblings are mean, evil people who have no regard for others in any way. He simply cannot believe that Marston could be half as evil as Lydia has said, and he yearns to find out for himself what his biological family is like, thinking that they have since changed.

Right as this is going on the new governor of Alaska arrives along with several other families who work with him including the family of a young girl named Phoebe. From the start she makes a crashing entrance as she falls off the boat into the freezing ocean and has to be rescued by Dalton. She shares a few harsh words with him, thoroughly embarrassed by having fallen off the boat, and immediately finds her life intertwined with Dalton's.

Dalton too is immediately struck by Phoebe. However, there is a problem: Dalton's best friend, Yuri, is also interested in Phoebe, and in a town where men outnumber women drastically, Phoebe can have her pick of any suitor on the island.

Things get more complicated when Evie receives word from her (and Dalton's) sister that Evie's husband is gravely ill and on his deathbed. She decides she must return to the states, as much as she has no desire to ever set foot in her hometown again, and settle things with her husband who if he does not pass, she'll petition divorce, and if he does, she'll settle his estate. Lydia is terrified that Dalton will be seduced by that part of his family as Marston is particularly full of guile, but she knows that this is the time Dalton should go too, and settle his mind about wondering about his biological family.

So, Dalton & Evie set off for the states leaving Yuri alone with the chance to woo Phoebe. Constantly, Dalton has Phoebe on his mind, but he knows now that he is going to be gone for perhaps several months, he may have no chance to ever woo Phoebe and her heart may go to Yuri, a thought which gravely hurts his own heart.

Will Dalton get seduced by his half-siblings? Or will he return to Sitka? And if he does, will he be able to steal Phoebe's heart, or will she have already given it away to Yuri, never to be returned?

Read Morning's Refrain to find out!

I thought this was a great second book in the series. It was interesting to jump forward so many years, but at the same time it made a lot of sense. I found that while the book was both predictable at times, it also went in directions I did not at all expect, and events I thought would be more major were sometimes more minor, and vice versa.

While it is a Christian series, Morning's Refrain is a bit more "preachy" than Dawn's Prelude, which was to a point that I felt it almost detracted from the book. I wish the message had been wound in more subtly instead of thrown in the reader's face so much.

That being said, it was a great book and I am so happy to have read it. I have already started the third book in the series, Twilight's Serenade, and I look forward to it!

Four out of five stars!

This book was delightful and well worth the read. I would highly recommend this author.

I throughly enjoyed this book, couldn't put down. This series is great hopefully author will come out with another, leaving suspense until the next book published. Recommend to all readers.

I loved this book! I enjoyed the entire series. There aren'tr many books that I can't put down, but tbis was one onf them. The storyline was constantly moving. There were never any dull moments or times when you wanted to skip a section to see what happened. Tracie Peterson did her homework on the era and times of Alaska which makes it all the more interesting.

I was waiting for book 2 which is Morning's Refrain to come out and now I can't wait to read book 3. Tracie Peterson never dissapoints. I enjoy the 1800's. Even though there were hard times it was simpler times. In each of her stories her characters persevere, overcome and love. In my relationship with Jesus, I persevere, overcome and love. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. In the 1800's Jesus wanted to see how people overcame trials and in 2010 the same. She is an amazing writer. I would like to see her books become movies. I enjoyed reading the first 2 in this serious.

I must admit, I was left feeling very disappointed when I finished reading this book. Like many of Tracie's other books it is very hard to relate to. I don't enjoy reading a book where all the characters are basically the same. It was very much like all her other books in that all of the main characters are extremely attractive. It really bugs me that the only woman in the book who was not stunningly beautiful was the stepdaughter that no one liked... Because that is not the way things are in the real world and it leaves women feeling that they should look that way also. Instead of highlighting their inner beauty, Tracie focused quite a bit on their outer. The other problem I had was how smoothly everything went in the book. That doesn't happen most of the time, and I'd really like a book that has realistic problems/solutions instead of fairytale type perfection. If this is the type of book you enjoy... Well, then I'd definitely recommend it to you. But if you are looking for something you can relate to, I do not recommend it for you.

This book was just as good as the first book in the series. I find myself drawn in to the stories, characters and relationships. Tracie writes with such detail and integrates scripture so easily that it is by far one of my favorites! As soon as I finished the first book, I was looking for this one. Now that I've read this one, I'm looking for #3!

It truely is that great of a series! Keep up the great writing Tracie!