Lynn Morris

This is hands-down my favorite Cheney Duvall book. I loooooved the Poe references (this book made me a huge fan of "Israfel"), and omw Shadrach is just ... swoon-worthy, a hard thing to do/be next to Shiloh imho.

I haven't read the Cheney Duvall, M.D., series in eons--and loved going back to the beginning with _The Stars for a Light_ this summer. The series was one of my first forays into Christian fiction in the mid-90s; I've read them boatloads of times since then, but it's easily been a good 10 years or more since the last read-through. The plot was a lot more complex than I'd remembered; I recalled all the elements, but it was interesting to read as a more-grown-up (ISH, haha) adult ... I've read show more a lot of books in between and grown as a reader, so I was fascinated by my reaction to the book as much as the book itself, haha.

I'm curious to keep reading the series (including book 2, which was my least enjoyed--_entirely_ different feel for me, and what the heck, Shiloh?! That is all) as well as my other favorite Christian fiction series from the 90s (that I also haven't revisited in probably a decade), _The Russians_. An author friend of mine recently read _The Russians_ for the first time, and I loved getting her take as someone entirely unfamiliar with the series, whereas I had lived and breathed it for years (it triggered my fascination with Russian history and resulted in my writing as many papers as I could on the topic). She noted she felt _The Russians_ was a bit melodramatic--and I'll admit I felt _a bit_ like that with Cheney Duvall, as well. All the exclamation points, haha!

So it makes me wonder how much of that (for either series) is simply due to the writing style of that decade, the '90s. (Certainly book-cover styles were very similar across series!) Marketing + the material being written/produced + all the things ... interesting to think about.

BUT, circling back to Cheney, I still loved the read, in large part due to its sheer nostalgia for me. :) Not to mention, Shiloh will always be in my top 5 inspy-fic swoonworthy characters/heroes. show less

This was my first time reading one of the novels Gilbert Morris coauthored with his daughter Lynn Morris. I've read some historical ChristFic books by the former Morris before, and while I can't say I'm really into the author's writing style, I enjoyed the overall story in The Winds of God from his Wakefield Dynasty series. So when The Creoles series' book covers called to the period fiction lover in me, I went ahead and picked up Book One.

I didn't come in looking for the most accurate or show more in-depth historical details, and unfortunately, I'm not surprised that some of the parts involving different peoples in the book didn't sit right with me. For instance, there's an evening scene where the enslaved people on Chantel's plantation are singing from their quarters, and Chantel, relaxing on her porch, says, "I like it at night like this, sitting here and just listening to the singing" in a moment portrayed as lovely—when actually that moment and others in this book gloss over the ugly reality of humans being owned as property. This scene treats their presence and their singing like pleasant "entertainment" there for the privileged heroine's benefit.

Also, various aspects of the story feel melodramatic and/or underdeveloped, the word choice and descriptions can be repetitive, and in general, the characters have a fairly unnatural feel, often with stilted dialogue.

Nevertheless, one characterization I mostly liked is of the heroine's main romantic interest. It's refreshing when such male characters aren't always tall, strapping, and dashing, and this particular man has ambition driven by his convictions.

Now, the core of his conviction comes from his faith, and spiritual themes have a prominent place in this book. However, it isn't my preference when spiritual themes in fiction come in the form of sermons and sermonizing. And if the characters' religious discussions and whatnot aren't fresh for me and don't necessarily seem like they're wholly organic parts of a novel, I tend to skim past them—as I did with the several extended Bible lessons in this book. I wanted to get back to the story.

And on the whole, it's the story that I was into, as it kept me interested enough to see how the events would play out. Because I'm not looking for more of a focus on slavery, I'll be skipping the second book in this series, but I may give Book Three a try. show less

Gol, I love this book ... and yet, it's also a hard read a) during a pandemic #irony, and b) in the days leading up to a surgery, lol. But, really insightful on the pandemic front, and encouraging on the surgery front. We've come a long way in medical discoveries, and this read clarifies that all too well.

I love watching Cheney & Shiloh's relationship grow in this read, as well. So good.