Book Review: "The Courtship" by Gilbert Morris

Satisfying End

The saga of the Freeman family comes to a close with this book. Lanie Freeman's father was put in jail unjustly. Her sister runs off to California to find the woman who can set him free. Lanie has the chance to become a published author with the help of a fellow writer who is vying for her attentions. Her relationship with the doctor is still unresolved. She has to leave everything in God's hands and put her trust fully in him.

I felt that this was the best book of the series. A lot of the characters came around full circle in this book. I really liked the change in Maeva the best. She started off as a really rebellious character who hated being tied down and told what to do. Then she changed and even brought along one of the town's misfits with her. Her conversion is not dramatic or unrealistic. It is a gradual change which is more believable.

Many loose ends are tied up in this book. Lanie's father for example finally is released from prison due to the confession of a witness. I don't know why but I knew as soon as I read about Lanie's father getting out of jail and then getting hurt that he would be rescued by a woman named after a state. Well luckily, even though this is a plot that has been used in another Morris book before, it's written differently and I enjoyed it. Although I didn't realize Lanie's dad was so young. She's almost 20 and he's still in his 30s.

I will say though that I was thrilled to read about how people were trying to calm down Cody's overzealous zeal on Christianity. I felt how he was going at it was harming more people than actually leading them to Christ. I was afraid that the characters in the book would just let him because he was happy about being a Christian. It was very satisfying to read though that they felt the same way I did and finally did something about it. I felt like the reader knew all along who Lanie was going to end up with. Relationships with the other two men seemed to be superficial and you felt bad for them because they were nice guys. I also felt kind of sad that Pastor Colin wasn't a main character like he had been in the first book. I would have liked to read more about his and Louise's relationship and what became of it. It would also have been fun to read more about how this new blended family will become. However, this was an enjoyable end to the series. If you are a Morris fan, you will enjoy it.

The Courtship by Gilbert Morris is published by Zondervan (2007)