Morning Light

By: Catherine Anderson

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

In this heart-pounding New York Times best-seller by RITA Award finalist Romantic Times Career Achievement Award winner Catherine Anderson, a seasoned horseman and a tenderfoot guide face long odds to rescue an eight-year-old from the Oregon wilderness.

Reluctant clairvoyant Loni MacEwen tries to ignore the visions that bring such heartbreak. But she feels compelled to warn the handsome Clint Harrigan of his son's imminent danger. A no-nonsense rancher, Clint thinks the pretty stranger has gone plumb loco—especially since he’s convinced he’s childless! But after watching Loni’ s predictions unfold on the local news, he asks her help to find the boy who just might be his son. As Loni and Clint ride into rugged terrain, a desperate search becomes a shared journey of trust, understanding, and unexpected love.

©2008 Adeline Catherine Anderson (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Superbly written… Romantic through and through.” ( Booklist)

More believable than some

At least the heroin was not as whiney as some have been. Knowing the interconnected families is a plus. The narrator is better than some.

Morning Light is a Christian paranormal romance.

I'd call this a contemporary Christian western romance with a paranormal twist. It is about a horse rancher and a psychic, and both are devoutly religious Catholics. There's adventure, romance, and dollops of sin and guilt during a horse trek through the Oregon mountains while they try to rescue a lost child. They confront the wilderness, their own personal prejudices, and consider their actions in light of their religious training. If you haven't read it and aren't offended by religious overtones, I'd suggest it.

I prefer the print version of this book. Julia Gibson's reading of this book made the woman seem whiney, and somewhat unlikeable. I wanted a more upbeat voice with more energy. She did a better job with the male voice.

The narrator’s voice

So far seems a bit shallow. I’m just not into the narrator voice but that’s just me. Definitely a girly romance

I guess it takes all kinds.

I started with book 1. Not out of interest or author because I had neither. Like with all series with 5 books or over you get Awesome than good then eh... then great. I personally loved the story. I loved that alpha hot men can cry. That try to change themselves instead of the way almost all us do & blame someone else. Which is why I had ZERO ISSUE WITH RELIGION. I am not a catholic my hubby is Irish catholic. Clint in early books had issues. Finding how he blamed himself for his mom's death. The guilt & love he had for is catholic mom sent him her faith. I can see why that is a leap. I have 1506 romance audiobooks the sex sense get old. I happen to think with M. K. EDIM way of PRODUCTIONS would have turned this book way the other way. Based on the book alone I have learn to ff 15 sec when they get chatty or in some cases the sex is boring or not my type its useful. Most authors I don't have to do that. Unless an Alpha Man who sounds like a pansy or 100 different things. Overall I would buy this book but it is free. Infact this One is MY FAVORITE OVERALL so far. Counseling for Cliff worked. I wasn't looking for his story like some of the other's. Like I said this is my favorite. Now to find out how a fake death & crazy hubby is going work its self out. Honestly I may have been in the 2 star place if that 15 sec wasn't there. I would have missed out on a great story. I am against all religions because they are man made. However I believe in God my faith is my rock. So anyone who knows me & reads this wouldn't believe it.

Clint and Loni

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

'Morning Light' by Catherine Anderson, book 8 in the Kendrick/Coulter/Harrigan series. Audible Premium Plus borrow. Dual POV. The ebook sample includes a family tree. It's listed as 12 hours 18 minutes. I listened for 4 hours 55 minutes at speed 2.50. Narrator Julia Gibson sounds muffled but is easy to understand and has a nice pace. Content warnings: v¡rg¡n h; clairvoyants and psychic visions; drowning death of two adults; a child lost and alone in the wilderness for a few days; an injury with an axe; a field blood transfusion to save a child; hidden/surprise paternity; one of the H exes attempted su¡c¡de; H mom hemorrhaged to death moments before Samantha was born via emergency c-section, H blames himself; and lots of mentions of Catholicism.

Date: Epilogue in early October, nearly 4 months after the story is complete.
Location: Crystal Falls, OR; Seattle, WA

Loni Kendra MacEwen (31; aka Lonigans) is a slender, petite, v¡rg¡n who has dark brown curly hair and blue eyes. She has an eleven-month-old yellow Fila Brasileiro mastiff named Hannah. She is a gifted clairvoyant and got her degree online when her gift made attending classes impossible. She's afraid of heights, plants a tree after every vacation, is an interior decorator, and a Catholic. She just moved to Crystal Falls, OR, in an attempt to run from the notoriety she received surrounding Cheryl Blain's death. She sold her home in Seattle and is now opening her own interior design business. Two months before she meets Clint, she has a vision of his son lost and alone. She's had visions of Clint her entire life. Clinton James Harrigan (37, March birthday; aka Clint) is the oldest of five, a control freak, dips tobacco, a Catholic, has jet black hair, brown eyes, a cleft chin, is muscular but not as tall as Loni imagined. He received 200 acres from his father when he was 21. He named his property Circle H Ranch and now breeds and trains quarter horses. His mom died five days after his 7th birthday. She was 8 months pregnant for Samantha. She began hemorrhaging and asked Clint to run and get his dad for her. Clint was trying to grab his puppy and delayed getting his dad. As he and his dad entered their home, they found his mom seated in a chair surrounded by a puddle of her own blood. He apologized, but his dad said, "Sorry never fixed nothing." His mom died on the operating table, and Samantha was delivered via emergency c-section. Clint gave Tug, his puppy, away a week later as a self-inflicted punishment. He never apologized again. He's been celibate since his last friend with benefits attempted su¡c¡de. He is now a certified first responder. Loni's vision reveals he has an eight year son he knew nothing about and then helps find him in the nick of time. In the end, they are married, expecting a daughter, and working to get to know his son before he moves in with them.

Other characters: ●Diedre Lavena (aka Dee; Loni's older sister; 2nd grade teacher; virgin until marriage; husband: Michael; children: Kirk and Kennon; non-clairvoyant; smoker); Aislinn MacDuff (aka Gram; Loni's grandma; clairvoyant; Scottish); Annabel (Diedre and Loni's mom; clairvoyant; horticulturist; long distance cyclist); ? (Diedre and Loni's dad; banker; plays tennis); Cheryl Blain (abducted and held captive for six months; murdered 3 days after her parents went public with Loni's vision that she was still alive, she had only been dead 12 hours); Mr and Mrs John Blain (Cheryl's parents; Samantha's decorating client); ? (30ish; abducted and k¡lled Cheryl; blonde hair; blue eyes; insane; evil). ●Samantha (aka Sammy; Clint's sister/youngest sibling; owns Sage Creek Ranch; husband Tucker Coulter; her quarter horses were poisoned last year; her horses are all named after spices); Quincy (Clint's brother; health nut; owns the Lazy H Ranch); Parker (Clint's brother; owns the Rocking H Ranch); Zach (Clint's brother; owns the Crooked H Ranch); Frank Harrigan (Clint's dad; wealthy rancher; owned a 1200 acre parcel he separated into 6 equal parcels and gave each of each children 200 acres, keeping 200 for himself; he named his portion Bar H Ranch; widower with 5 children; plump, bottle dyed redhaired new wife: DeeDee, the former housekeeper); ? (Clint's mom; died while pregnant with Samantha); Grandma Stevenson (DeeDee's grandmother; clairvoyant; devout Catholic; deceased); ? (DeeDee's mom); ? (DeeDee's grandfather); Hugh Harrigan (Clint's uncle; state trooper; Frank's brother); Trevor (8; Clint and Sandra's son; stuffed animal: Boo; sleeps with a nightlight; jet black hair; brown eyes; dimpled chin); Sandra Michaels Styles (Trevor's mom; Clint's ex; honey brown hair; green eyes; husband: a Robert; drowned/deceased); Senator Robert Styles (wife: Sandra; "son:" Trevor; honest; sincere; drown/deceased); Hooter McElroy (56; Clint's ranch foreman; handlebar mustache; short; stocky; green eyes); ? (Robert's parents); Jacob and Sharon Michaels (Sandra's parents). ●Janet (woman Clint dated; post nasal drip); Fred (grocery store stock clerk); Scott Holmes, Grace, Peter, and Alex (reporters); ? (forest ranger); Daryl Armstrong (Clint's former high school friend; reporter); Bess (trooper dispatcher); Richard Conklin (Search coordinator; Crystal Falls Policeman; knows Hugh); Mrs Stone (Loni's kindergarten teacher; alcoholic; drunk driver; killed a little boy on her way to the store; served jail time); Mr ? (Loni's elementary school principal; abusive; hit his wife, she fell, hit her head on the hearth, broke her neck, and died; he went to jail after his children testified against him); ? (Clint's ex; divorced mother of 2 teenagers; overdosed after Clint broke things off with her; got counseling); Father Mike; Russ (Loni's first crush in college; red hair; blue eyes); Melinda (Clint's first crush; braids; braces). ●Animals: Nana (Trevor's St Brenard); Clint's horses: Melchizedek (7; sorel gelding), Hagar, Uriah (9; bay gelding, reddish brown with black main, tail, and lower legs), Dagan (flaxen chestnut gelding, reddish brown body with a blonde main and tail; named after the God of the Canaanites), Ezekiel (6: dun gelding), Malachi (flaxen chestnut), Bathsheba (11; buckskin), Delilah (14; sorrel), Jemima (7; roan), and Sapphira (blue roan; from Samantha's now deceased horse: Cilantro; named after a woman in the Bible who was executed by God for lying); Tug (Clint's dog when he was 7).

2 out of 5 on my spice scale.

1st listen 11-06-23

Too Preachy For Me

What did you like best about Morning Light? What did you like least?

I typically enjoy stories with characters with psychic abilities, and this book was not an exception in that respect. I enjoyed the realistic treatment of Loni MacEwen's psychic abilities...not so much as a gift...but as a curse that she couldn't control...which kept messing up her life. That part of the story was good. I enjoyed the hero who was a good match for her on many levels.

What I didn't like was the preachy nature. The author seemed to hit quite hard on how wrong premarital sex is...right before her characters engaged. The preachy nature overwhelmed a lot of other things that I liked and made what might have otherwise been a 4 or 5 star read only an average one.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I liked the ending. It was satisfying on all levels.

Which character – as performed by Julia Gibson – was your favorite?

I liked her performance of Clint - the hero.

Did Morning Light inspire you to do anything?

LOL - certainly NOT to remain abstinent till marriage. :)

Any additional comments?

Catherine Anderson is one of my favorite authors. I buy and read most of what she writes - though she is one of the authors that I tend to read sparingly because I don't ever want to be without one of her books to read. Though this wasn't my favorite it was a good read on a lot of levels and would have been a good read if she'd left out the heavy handed approach to premarital sex...particularly since her characters engaged.

Loved It!!

Especially liked the Paranormal Angle to the story. Story is well written & fast paced.

New refreshing plot

Loved the plot, the horse involvement and the description of a search and rescue using a horse pack trip. The help and guidance of God and his role in the lives of the characters.

enjoyable book but only 3 stars.

I almost shelved this one on my christian shelf. i do like the faith base of the story but it is different from the coulter part of the series.

great book, horrible narrative

I love this book, but the narrative is horrible. they way she tries to talk like a man and her voices gets higher when she tries to portray someone angry. throws the whole story off.