I received a review copy of Twilight's Serenade from Bethany House, and am under no requirement to write a positive review, just an honest one.Twilight's Serenade follow the story of Lydia Lindquist's daughter, Britta Lindquist.Britta took up violin and after having her heart broken by Yuri Belikov left Sitka to try to get over him, forget about him and move on.6 years later, Britta returns to Sitka and must decide if she is going to take an offer to join an amazing orchestra in England, but she knew first she had to come back to see Yuri first in order to decide if she should take the offer. Furthermore, Britta must decide about another offer she has received, an offer of marriage from the conductor of the orchestra, Brenton, who is in love with her and who she asked to give her time to go back to Sitka before she made the decision if she would marry him or not...When Britta returns to Sitka her life immediately becomes more complicated, not only is she not over Yuri but it turns out he had gotten married (by force more than out of love) to a rather vile woman who dies giving childbirth while Britta is there. Yuri is gone, no one knows where he is, and Britta finds herself drawn to caring for Yuri's two children.When Yuri returns to Sitka suddenly, Britta must break the news of his dead wife, and decide how to proceed with his children that she has come to love deeply over the months she has cared from him. Britta wants more than anything to marry Yuri and become a family, but Yuri is a destroyed man, whose life was ruined from his horrible alcohol abuse, and who feels unworthy to experience happiness. Furthermore, he believes he does not deserve Britta, nor should he hold her back from the chance to be first chair violin in Brenton's orchestra...Will Yuri come to love Britta? Or will she have her heart broken yet again if he decides to give his children up for adoption, taking away from her the deepest connection she has had to Yuri in years...Twilight's Serenade is another beautiful installment in the series. At first I found it odd to jump forward so far in time in each book in the series but at the same time it is a great chance to see how the family has grown and changed during the periods in between each book. Britta is a more minor character in the prior book, and here she becomes the focus of the book as she strains to decide if she should follow her heart and risk it on Yuri, a troubled man with many problems, or marry Brenton who loves her but she knows she will never love in quite the same deep way.Tracie Peterson is truly a master at weaving historical fiction stories into a beautiful tale. She makes it so easy to love her characters and care about them and their future. The book was another amazing example of her beautiful writing and for me, was a guarantee that I will be buying and reading other books that she has written.For anyone who loves Christian fiction, Tracie Peterson does a great job with her inspirational stories. And unlike many Christian fiction writers she doesn't write all fluff, she writes about characters who face serious life problems, such as alcoholism. It is definitely not all sunshine and rainbows like many Christian authors choose to write. It makes it so much more real, and especially inspiring to see how her characters try to work through their problems and find the Lord, including the very real struggle to not lose faith in God when hardships are abundant.My only criticism is that this book comes off so much more "preachy" than her other books and it really began to detract from the book. The conversations between the characters felt forced to make a point about religion, rather than realistic about how people would discuss such things. Her first book did, I think, the best job making a point about a character finding her faith in God again, but felt so real; the conversations about God the characters shared seemed real, not forced and not preachy for the readers. In this book, it was the opposite, the conversations felt so staged and unnatural.Overall though, I loved the story, and was glad to read another chapter in the lives of the Lindquist family.One thing I would have loved to see is Britta take up her violin again as a sign of healing. I felt that that would have really added to the story and showed her recovering from her heartbreak and the tough choices she makes throughout the book, including an incredible loss she experiences that almost destroys her.I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves historical fiction, inspirational fiction and/or Christian fiction!Four out of five stars (only because the dialogue came across so unnatural) Having read Tracie Peterson's Alaskan Quest series, I jumped on the chance to review this book in yet another Alaskan series. This is book 3 in her Song of Alaska series, and, though I wish I could have read books 1 and 2 simply because I love to read an entire series, Tracie Peterson penned this novel in such a way that it could easily be a stand alone novel. This is what drew me into Tracie's work with the Alaskan Quest series and it is what will continue to always draw me into her books. In Twilight's Serenade, I was instantly and fully captured from page 1. The feeling of being transported to the early 1900's was breath-taking. Becoming friends with Britta and feeling her emotions and thoughts as if they were my own was astronomical. The power of God working in Britta's life as she's learning to follow not her dreams but her heart is beautifully spellbinding. I felt so close to Britta and her family, and I was even happy to get to know Yuri! I definitely recommend this book with 5 stars to everyone who loves Historical novels! If you've never read a Tracie Peterson book, then I suggest you start right now with Twilight's Serenade. She is an author who's characters and words will be with you always!
What do You think about Twilight's Serenade (2010)?
I liked this one better than the second book, but it wasn't particularly amazing.
—Posting
