Review: Interesting Trilogy Despite Many Switches Between Characters
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 11, 2013
Breathe - 4Odessa St. Clair barely made the long train ride from Philadelphia to Colorado Springs. She was unconscious when her brother and sister get her to the sanitarium for consumption. Their regiment of fresh air, exercise, and plenty of food gets her back on a path to better health, but the mystery she encounters threatens her very life. At least, she's not alone. Handsome rancher, Bryce McAllan, is as connected to the deaths as she is. Can they figure out what's going on before it's too late?The only mistakes I saw were "something something" and "that that." I wondered if Nic saw the metal rod in the other fighter's pocket, why didn't anyone else. The first part of the novel seemed a little slow, as the stage is set and the three siblings, Odessa, Nic, and Moira, are introduced. Each has their own set of problems and dreams as they come to Colorado for Odessa's health. At first, I didn't really like any of the St. Claires very much. Odessa was pretty prickly, Moira was manipulative and selfish, and Nic was the typical prodigal trying to figure out who he was. Toward the end, however, I became more sympathetic and invested in them. The book often seemed more about events, action, and plot and less about character development, but I did enjoy it and look forward to the next one, which will feature Moira.Sing - 3Moira St. Clair had done what she'd dreamed of. She was in Paris, singing opera, and living a life of luxury. That is until her manager cleaned out her bank account and left the country, and the opera house was closing due to mismanagement. She would not be able to get another role for months, because the companies were booked that far ahead. Not having much choice, she booked passage back to the states. On the way, she meets two men, both handsome. Galvin is charismatic, charming, and suggestive. Daniel is strong,  secretive, and brooding, but there's a magnetism Moira feels with him. However, in the end, she ends up with Galvin who lures her into the saloons and cheap opera houses to sing. He lures her elsewhere, too, but he tells her from the start marriage or a long-term relationship is not for him. In the meantime, the enemy is still out there threatening Moira and Odessa. Can he ever be stopped?This book had more mistakes and a darker atmosphere than the first. "Was" was used instead of "as," and there were too many awkward sentences. Two examples are:"Ralph glanced at her as she hurried out of the stable Body Broken 9781936768530 s, then followed behind her in silence," and "Daniel had been too slow figure out what he was really saying." It was hard to like Moira very much, when she makes one bad decision after another. And, the romantic scenes between married Odessa and her brother-in-law were even worse. It ended with the villain gone, but Moira's future is left hanging. Despite all this, I did keep reading to see what would happen. I think this one would have been better if it concentrated on Moira's story and saw it to the conclusion, instead of having to wait to see what happens to both her and Nic. Perhaps the final book will be better and tie up all the loose ends.Claim - 5This one seemed to have more character development. Dominic realizes his vagabond life of loose living, scrapes, and fights is not working out well. No matter what he does, peace seems to elude him. While sailing to get home, another sailor tries to tell him he will never find peace without God, but Nic doesn't want to hear that. It takes Sabine, a beautiful woman, half Blackfeet Indian and half French; a young, orphaned boy; and drudging, dangerous work in a gold mine to teach him the effects of violence and the benefits of God.It made no sense to me why Daniel wouldn't tell Moira why he wanted to take the sheriff's position. Again, the three books would have been better if they'd focused mainly on one St. Clair sibling at a time and saw their story to completion, instead of constantly switching between the three. Odessa's story pretty much did this in the first book, but the rest didn't. In addition, the fact that Moira's and Nic's choices created most of their problems did not help make them endearing. Still, CLAIM was the best of the three in my opinion. It was the first of the three I found I could not put down and read well into the night to finish. I still had some questions at the end, like where was Nic going to live, but, on the whole, the series was a satisfying read.