Customer Reviews

What Once We Loved (Kinship and Courage Series #3)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last book of a series of 3, Jane Kirkpatrick knocks out the last with a resounding hooray!!

The women we have come to know, love and admire, have come to life in these novels. We rejoiced in their arrival to the west and urged them on in their endeavors to support themselves. Suddenly, an untimely accident throws some of them in turmoil amongst themselves. Friendships are shakey, and the constant threat of retaliation from Ruth's husband forces Ruth to make a plan that will forever change the life of her little girl, but save her life in the long run. The struggle continues and for some of them, they doubt their self worth and abilities. Not all have coped with their new lives and some have moved forward to place their lives in jeopardy. For those of us who know them well, you will not be disappointed with the conclusion.

This 3rd book of the trilogy drew me into the story and the lives of these strong women from page 1. How they overcame the tradegies they faced and prevailed was heart warming. In a present-day time of easy fixes, the obstacles these women overcame shaped their personalities and gave them amazing strength to go forward with their dreams. It's about dreams. And it is about not ever giving up. Ever! Wonderful!

What an inspiring piece of historical fiction! The women of this first book in Kirkpatrick's Kinship and Courage series overcome unimagineable hardship as they journey over the Oregon Trail in 1850. Facing the sexism of the time, with limited resources, they rely on their relationships with each other, and with God to survive. This is a story of strong women, an inspiration to anyone who is facing difficulty in life.

The theme through this book is one of redemption. The characters all come to realize that life is best lived with someone who truly cares about you and your independence. Not having read the other two books in the trilogy, I didn't know all the background. However, I don't think that hindered my understanding of the plot and the characters.

The characters are well written and for the most part, very likeable. The only thing that bothered me was that at times, the timing of the book seemed off. I never really knew what events were happening in the past, and somethings seemed to be skipped over. For instance, this big secret was going to be revealed, and the author cut to a different story line; when the first story line is picked back up--the secret isn't told--you only get their reaction. Parts of the book just seemed jumpy.

I would recommend this book--either on its own or as the last book in the series.

The last book of a series of 3, Jane Kirkpatrick knocks out the last with a resounding hooray!!

The women we have come to know, love and admire, have come to life in these novels. We rejoiced in their arrival to the west and urged them on in their endeavors to support themselves. Suddenly, an untimely accident throws some of them in turmoil amongst themselves. Friendships are shakey, and the constant threat of retaliation from Ruth's husband forces Ruth to make a plan that will forever change the life of her little girl (...). The struggle continues and for some of them, they doubt their self worth and abilities. Not all have coped with their new lives and some have moved forward to place their lives in jeopardy. For those of us who know them well, you will not be disappointed with the conclusion.

"What Once We Loved" is a wonderful book. Anyone who has read the first two books must read this one. If you have never read any of Jane's books this is still a wonderful, inspirational book. In the end I had to ration myself because while I was anxious to see what happens on the next page, I also did not want the story to end and have to leave Mazy and Elizabeth and all the others forever. Jane's gift for storytelling shines in this
finale to the kinship series. She creates characters who jump right out of the pages and live in the readers' hearts. Even though this series is over I look forward to visiting with new characters in future stories.

This books does wrap up the series and puts a finishing touch to most of the characters. I would have loved for there to be another book showing these women 5 years down the line. The story was wonderful with a happy ending (hooray that Zane Randolph finaly gets his due!), and sheds some light to the beauty the settlers found in the beautiful Oregon territory.

Jane...keep them coming!

The Kindle version was so riddled with typos (every few paragraphs had an error)that it was very distracting.

The story itself was a wonderful conclusion to the series.

What wonderful stories of women with courage, who worked together to meet unbelievable challenges. Great examples for women of all ages, for faith, and for believing in their own abilities.

Jane Kirkpatrick's books take you away from the present and draw you into the past so well that you become a part of the story. The characters are endearing, the landscape real, and the story warm, real, and wonderful.