Kathy Steffen

Colorful, romantic and more than a little suspenseful, First There is a River drew me in for an exciting riverboat cruise with plenty of twists and turns and along the way. I wish there'd been more about Lilly at the end. Her story would make a great addition to this series.

The story takes place on a riverboat in the 1900’s. In this unusual setting, I wondered how the story would keep my interest.

It captured my interest right at the beginning with Tobias Perkins sitting on the edge of a cliff contemplating suicide. He feels his dead father, Jared Perkins, lives within him, at times controlling him, doing things that he wouldn’t normally think of doing. Jumping off the cliff is the only way that Tobias can stop his father. Although he doesn’t like the show more taste of drink, he continues to drink to give him the courage to end his life.

His sister, Sarah, has known for some time now that Tobias has issues and feels she can handle things without having to get her mother involved. Her dream is to be a riverboat pilot. She has missed her pilot testing in order to draw Tobias away from his suicide attempt.

Emma Perkins owns ‘The Spirit of the River’. She is a single mother and works hard to keep her riverboat afloat. Her time in precocious now as a wedding is going to take place on the boat and they have transported a traveling group on entertainers, Le Theatre d’Illusion, for the wedding party, which includes a Tiger.

The napkins that Tobias made for the wedding in the shape of animals were found tattered. Tobias blames himself, because he is unable to remember periods of time when he is drinking. It is odd to find them in this condition, but it isn’t the end of the world and everyone continue their plans for the wedding.

A performer is found missing after the riverboat launches from a brief stay on land for a picnic. At the same time, passengers are becoming seriously ill, some dying The reason for their illness is unknown. Emma fears that the illness came from the food that she served. Tobias feels that he somehow is to blame. Sarah tries to assure both mother and brother that it might not be their fault.

The character development was well done. I enjoyed the development of the story. The ending surprised me. The conclusion answered the questions of the strange events and the cause of the illness, but left me wondering about the newlyweds and why the tiger was included when it had such little significance in the story. show less

Finished yesterday. a quick read. It was good, but not fantastic which I'd hoped for. (because of reviews on amazon) 3.5

Emma Perkins is a shell of a woman, her husband an abusive monster who believes that he is teaching her God's lessons. When he sends their children away, she has had all she can take and escapes to the safety of her uncle and a job aboard his riverboat. It is aboard Spirit where she learns to live again.

This debut novel was a disappointment. I found the story flat and predictable, and it really dragged despite being a rather short 250 pages. The characters were poorly written, almost show more caricatures, and it was impossible to grow attached to any of them. It was obvious from the very first sentence that you were meant to hate Emma's husband, and the reader was force-fed overdone passages about his cruelty. Further, the writing was simplistic and amateurish. It left me wondering if this is a poor example of self-publishing. Apparently it's not, but it could certainly have used a good editor. Thankfully, it was a quick read. I will not be returning to any future offerings by this author, and sadly would recommend that others skip them too. show less