River's End The Inn at Shining Waters Series Book 3 By Melody Carlson

I received this e-book from Abingdon Press through NetGalley.com for no charge in exchange for my honest review of this e-book. The opinions expressed here are mine.


Book Description:

In the final story of The Inn at Shining Waters, Anna Larson's granddaughter Sarah is beginning to find her independence. But her relationship with her parents suffer as a result and she travels away from all that is familiar.

While the solace of the river calls Sarah back, surprises await upon her return. Three generations of family heartbreak and disappointments converge at Shining Waters as Sarah finds God right in the center of it all.



My Thoughts:

River's End is the third and last book in The Inn at Shining Waters Series by Melody Carlson. Melody Carlson does a wonderful job to bring everything to a close. I am sad to see the series end because I have truly enjoyed this journey with Anna Larson and her family but very happy with the way Melody Carlson brought it to an end.  I had the privilege of reading all of this series and from the first book, it had me.  River's End picks up where River's Call left off. The Inn at Shining Waters trilogy follows the story of three generations of women: Anna Larson, daughter Lauren, and granddaughter Sarah, through the decades of the 1950s-1970s. In River's End, their story comes to a conclusion with the primary focus on Sarah, and her two year journey from the familial inn to a religious cult and back to her family. In the first book we meet Anna Larson, in the second book we meet Lauren, Anna's daughter and throughout the book follow the healing between mother and daughter.  In River's End the focus is on Sarah, Lauren's daughter, Anna's granddaughter. Again we watch mother and daughter work to heal wounds of the past. 

The cast of characters Melody Carlson put together in this trilogy are very well written and very real people. These characters are not perfect and they have to work through ghosts of their past to move on with the future. I truly loved the characters in this story and really felt like I knew them.  Melody Carlson writes with authority about running an inn, life on the Siuslaw river, and the Siuslaw Indians. This series focuses on family, disappointments, reconciliation, and truly relying on God for all things no matter what.  I really lost myself in these books.  If you are a fan of Historical Christian Fiction, you should give this series a try.  You won't be disappointed. I look forward to seeing what is next from Melody Carlson.