Customer Reviews

His Steadfast Love (Darkness to Light)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine if you will, being in Texas just on the Gulf. It's the spring of 1861 and Amanda Bell is the oldest of four sisters and a brother she is helping to raise along with her father, Pastor Ezekiel Bell on their southern plantation. Her mother passed away and left Amanda tasked with raising her siblings until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

However with the rivalry between the North and the South, the stirrings of a Civil War is on the horizon and Amanda's only brother Daniel is willing to go to war to defend the South's position on slavery. What he doesn't seem to understand is even though they treat their slaves well, they are still not free. However Pastor Bell provides his blessing over Daniel as he heads off to war along with his childhood friends and Amanda is helpless to stop him.

When Amanda meets Captain Kent Littlefield during a church service, she finds her heart pulled in a way she hadn't expected. Now that the war has begun, Captain Littlefield has been called to duty fighting for the North, which now puts her at odds with the man she loves from the North, going to war with the brother she loves from the South. Will either of them return home from the war? Or will this war keep her love at a crossroads she can never hope to cross battle lines?

In the latest novel by Golden Keyes Parsons, His Steadfast Love, shows the horrors of what men, fathers, sons and families had to endure when our own country went to war against itself. In the end, lines were drawn and even when the war ended some feelings would never be resolved over what men had witnessed during their time of war. This is a chilling, fictional account of the Civil War that was waged in regards to the issue over men's freedom within our own country and along the way, God and love will prevail.

I received His Steadfast Love compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was amazed at this fictional account of one of our countries bloodiest battles on our own soil and the amount of lives that were lost in the war. Amanda Bell is a strong woman character I could relate to, who was willing to put aside her feelings of duty to her family and learn to listen to her heart and God's word. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and would recommend this to anyone who loves historical romance!

Y'all will love this story!
The setting for this romance brings the history alive and Ms Parsons gives us a wonderful insight into the lifestyle of pre-Civil War Texas, during the war and after the war. The history breathes as our hero and the heroine's brother are in battles and moving around the country during the war. Our heroine experiences many changes to her lifestyle and grows, sometimes tenuously, in her faith and mettle through those changes. The ravages of war and its effects cannot daunt the love our hero, Kent, has for Amanda, even though they are from opposing sides.

Yes, yes and more yes. Very romantic. Well thought out the plot and the actions. You find yourself swept along into a river of emotions... be like nature... a waterfall... just ride with it. Light a candle ... have a snack or good glass of wine with it you will indeed be swept into romance, love, and war.

I have decided I love this author, and this series. I look hard for historical fiction that is accurate, not overladen with the evils of the times (I want to know what happened without so many vivid descriptions of each and every atrocity to weigh my heart down), that are not just a nice setting for a nasty romance novel, and that are enjoyable to read. I like to use literature to teach, and good historical fiction is deceptively hard to find, especially in recent literature.

This book, as well as the first book of this series "In the Shadow of the Sun King" fit my qualifications for good historical fiction. I love the stories, the ease of reading, and especially that I am able to learn some good details of history while reading good stories about people with values I can agree with. I like that the heroines are realistic, imperfect, and still uplifting, admirable people. If a reader objects to the mention of God or the teaching of Christian morality, this is not the book for you. If a reader likes these things and would like to read a good story that they can also learn from, this book is awesome.

I very much enjoyed reading His Steadfast Love by Golden Keyes Parsons. It is a really interesting and thought provoking novel.
I haven't given a lot of thought to the Civil War era...at least not since I first saw Gone With the Wind as a young person! Reading about the pain and suffering during this war and how divided our country was during this period of our nation's history got me to thinking how divided our nation is today as well. Not exactly the kind of sentiments you would expect this book to invoke. This story about a young Southern belle who falls in love with a Northern soldier, and her brother who joins the Southern forces is a familiar plot, but never lacks creativity. Not only is it a romance novel, but it is also a book that explores the difficulty of a nation at war when the enemy is your fellow countryman...all the conflicting emotions and the pain and suffering of those caught up in war.
The very beginning of the book was a little slow in capturing my attention, but then the story began to come to life as the characters were developed throughout the book. Parsons combined believable characters, an interesting plot and historical facts to create a very well written book.
I prefer not to give a lot of the plot's details of a book in my reviews because I feel that it ruins the story for the reader. I love the element of surprise and for that reason I read very little about a book before actually reading it myself! I do recommend this book for those who love Christian romance novels that take place in a bygone era.

A woman with divided loyalties faces an uncertain future in this gripping story set during the Civil War. The gulf coast of Texas provides the setting for the romance between the southern lady and a Union officer. Rich in historical detail, the book will transport the reader to a time in America when division threatened to destroy the nation. The author flawlessly weaves in details that add to the setting and customs of the time period. If you like history, romance and a gutsy heroine, you will love this book.

I am very divided with this book. I think my review would be more like 3 and 1/2 stars. It was a well written book until you read some of the conversations between the love interest, that was very over the top, cheesy. But the flow of the book and the action held onto me and made me want to finish the book. The love story happens very quickly and the fall pretty hard for two people who don't know each other well and all the opposition that was put before them. It was just an ok book that was ok to read. The Christian part was not too preachy and didn't take up too much of the flow of the book. This was a very clean read, even the violence was kept clean. But unfortunately not one I will recommend to highly and probably an author I won't go back too.

I love to read a good historical book or romance novel. This book was both! I love that this book hit on hard topics from american history and how sometimes families were torn apart by having to take sides in the war. the main character struggles not only with the Choices made by the people she loves but has an internal struggle of what she feels God wants in her life. All in all this is a great book and I would recommend it.

I am from Atlanta, Ga., a third generation from that beautiful city, and so I was thrilled to read a story about the civil war. Ms. Parsons wrote an excellent book, pulling in the actually historical aspects of the war along with facts from the people who really lived in that time.
I loved the romance that began at the beginning and continued on throughout the book, showing great faithfulness. But most of all, I loved how she was able to show the main characters' deep faith from a tiny mustard seed to full faith.
I would highly recomment this book!

Reading His Steadfast Love was almost like stepping inside the movie Gods and Generals...almost. The setting, the characters, the things that they have to go through during the war all came to life through Golden Parsons writing style. Why do I say "almost"? Because I personally think the movie portrayed the reasons and politics behind the war better than this book did.

While the writing was good, I wasn't overly impressed with the book as a whole, sadly. The characters seemed flat--I never really connected with them. And there were several scenes that I felt too awkward/unnatural. (Like when someone is suddenly sick, within an hour the doctor proclaimed the invalid was going to die. Just like that. And in front of the invalid, too! All I could think was "What terrible bedside manners!")

The point that Parson takes--that slavery was THE reason for the war--bugged me. A lot! Several times characters within His Steadfast Love mentioned how the war was fought because of slavery...when it really wasn't. Not all the way, at least. Slavery was only a part of it. This particular annoyance is more than likely something only I would find frustrating. But there it is. But I did like how Parsons showed the gradual change in Amanda's behavior toward her slaves. Very well done!

Parsons detail to historical times was really good, taking the reader back in time and throwing them into such a difficult time period in our country's history. The romance wasn't my favorite, but that may be because I never really was able to connect to either of the main characters. Her writing style was tight and well done, and while I didn't enjoy His Steadfast Love as much as I had hoped, I am sure there are other readers who would enjoy this book.

I reviewed this book for the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. Thanks to the publishers, Thomas Nelson, for sending me my review copy. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.