The Firstborn Series is the series that follows those ones. I don't know which ones I liked more as they are are similar but different. While the Redemption Series follows a normal small-town family through their daily life, the Firstborn Series follows a famous movie star and his struggle to live the small-town family life. I devoured both sets of books quickly and luckily was able to pick up all but one of the books on PaperBackSwap. So I guess I won't choose my favorite, just say that I loved them both.The Firstborn Series follows Dayne Matthews, Hollywood's leading man and heartthrob in his quest to find his family, love, and an escape from the fame that is his life. He finds all of those things in the form of Katy Hart, a small-town Christian kids theater director. The series consists of five books: Fame, Forgiven, Found, Family, and Forever and each book has a different purpose and theme behind it (hence the titles). I'd have to say my favorite of the five books was probably Forgiven, but you can't really read one without the other. And you can't really read any of them without starting out with the Redemption Series. Or at least I wouldn't recommend it.Kingsbury is an amazing story-teller and really takes you into the life of her characters so much that by the end you feel like they're friends. I only wish that someone had made a movie of these books so I could have the images played out in my mind actually in front of me. The story lines are very realistic (e.g., celebrities dealing with paparazzi, a widower trying to get over the loss of his wife, a young couple trying to make it through the stresses of law school) and things that we can all relate to- life, love, and loss. Like the Redemption Series, I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone. But only start reading them if you have time to finish them. I read two books in one night (and had to get up for work the next day) because I had to know what happened to Dayne and Katy next. Or just buy one book at a time and not all five. Enjoy.
Enjoyed this book but definately recommend reading the Fame book in the series first. My library didn't have Fame, so I started with this book. While I was able to figure things out pretty quickly, there's alot of things that happened in the first book that are not fully explained in the second.. Overall, this was a very good book that focuses on forgiveness on multiple levels - forgiving oneself, forgiving those who wrong us, and forgiving those who commit a huge wrong in society. Kingsbury does a great job displaying compassion with her characters to achieve this. The character development was really nice but all the kids got a bit confusing after a while. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Karen Kingsbury's writing.
What do You think about Forgiven (2005)?
This was a sad story about a tragic death of two young children. Katy Hart was in charge of putting on a stage performance of Annie. She was doing tryouts and two families decided to go for ice cream after tryouts. One mother took four children for ice cream. A young kid crossed the center line and there was a head on collison. In the end two small children died, one from each family. The young performers at first were very angry and wanted revenge. Katy went to the jail and learned more about the young boy that caused the accident. He was in high school and had been drinking before he got behind the wheel. Katy learned that his mother had left for another man as soon as his father went to Iraq. The boy was left to fend for himself. In the end all the young actors got a chance to meet the boy and tell him that they forgave him for the accident. The production of Annie went extremly well and Katy even got to see Dayne and tell him how she felt. Also, near the end Ashley learned a deep dark secret that her parents have kept for over 30 years. She confronts her dad who desparetly asked Ashley to not tell the 4 children about giving one son up for adoption 30 years ago. Dayne is now starting to look into Christianity and see that his life in Hollywood is useless and he wants a life with Katy.
—Jodi
Diese Buch war besser als das andere! ich bin begeistert von der Leidenschaft die jedes einzelne Kind mitbringt in die Geschichte. ICh bin begeistert über die Liebe, die die Hauptfiguren vermitteln und erleben. Ich danke Gott dafür das ich diese Serie lesen darf und sie von innen herraus erleben darf. Ich würde gerne unter den Zuschauen sitzen die das Musikal sehen oder im Kinosaal sitzen wenn Katy auf ner Leinwand zu shen ist,Ich habe dieses Buch auf Norwegisch gelesen und fande da ein Zitat sehr passent : "Gud forteller oss at det ikke er hat som er svaret men KJÆRLIGHET!" Baily Flaning. übersetzt :" Gott erzählt uns nicht das HAss die Antwort ist , sondern Liebe!" von Baily Flaning. und genau so sehe ich diese Serie von Büchern und den Glauben in diesem Buch. AM GRÖßTEN IST DIE LIEBE!
—Mauselochsarah
Dayne comes to town to make his movie and spends time with Katy. They have feelings for each other but believe they are from two different worlds. Then 2 children from the theatre are killed by a drunk driver and everyone is learning to deal with this. Ashley reads a letter and finds out she has a long lost brother that her parents kept from them. Her father has decided to try and find him. Dane finished filming and leaves town and then goes to read what his birth mother wrote him. Everyone wants him to find God and this is a beginning. So much emotion in this book. cried several times.
—Laura Beasley
