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#1: The Stars For A Light (1994)
Bethany House
Graduating from the Woman's Medical College of the prestigious University of Pennsylvania as a full-fledged, documented, accredited physician, young and energetic Cheney Duvall assumed that she would immediately find a suitable position. But after two months of applying and interviewing for several different openings, then being summarily rejected because she was a woman, she had almost given up hope.
When Cheney hears that a man named Asa Mercer is looking for a doctor to care for the two hundred women he is transporting on an extended sea voyage from New York to Washington Territory, she grabs the position. Mercer is actually delighted that Cheney is a female doctor who can also help chaperone these potential brides-to-be for the frontiersmen in the West.
But even before the journey begins, a foreboding shadow darkens what Cheney had thought was a great opportunity to finally use her talents and education. Was she really prepared for what this responsibility requires?
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#2: Shadow Of The Mountains (1994)
Bethany House
Cheney Duvall proved to be an excellent doctor to "Mercer's Belles" on the sea voyage to Washington Territory, but doors of further opportunity remained shut. Despite having graduated with honors from a prestigious university as one of only a handful of female physicians in 1865, Cheney continues to find herself being summarily rejected because she is a woman.
Returning to her parents' home in Philadelphia with her nurse, Shiloh Irons, Cheney finds a letter from a dear friend pleading that she come to a remote spot in the Ozark Mountains. The friend is having a baby, and there are no doctors available in the primitive wilderness of Wolf County, Arkansas. Though she is warned about the mountain folks, Cheney feels compelled to go and provide medical care to her friend and the community.
But the warnings prove true. The people are superstitious, illiterate, hopelessly resistant to medical science, and hate Yankee especially educated Yankee female doctors. She also finds her way blocked by a medicine woman of powerful influence among the mountain people. The big land companies further complicate Cheney's efforts, and then she becomes the target for a bullet.
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#3: A City Not Forsaken (1995)
Bethany House
Upon her return to New York from the Ozark Mountains where she had tried to help the mountain folks, Cheney Duvall is ready for lighter duty. Shell go into private practice with Devlin Buchanan, the handsome doctor who had proposed to her, and work with the citys wealthy and elite. But an outbreak of cholera is imminent. The steamship Virginia is on its way back from London where a cholera outbreak has been reported, and its just a matter of time before the deadly disease begins spreading in New York. Her past work with the underclasses has left a deep mark on Cheneys soul. Can she be content in a world of high society even as the citys poor are facing the horrors of a deadly pestilence?
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#4: Toward The Sunrising (1996)
Bethany House
With New Orleans as their destination, Cheney Duvall and her nurse, Shiloh Irons, leave behind the glittering lights of New York City and travel first to Charleston, South Carolina, intending to stay for only a short time. But the purpose of their stop immediately draws them into the plight of this war-torn Southern city, in the painful throes of Reconstruction and carpetbagger policies after the Civil War.
Cheney finds herself in conflict with the most respected doctor in Charleston, who is also the hospital administrator. She discovers that his old-school medical practices are not only questionable but are positively harmful. He refuses to acknowledge Cheney as a lady, much less an accredited physician.
Meanwhile, Shiloh finds strong evidence that one of the most powerful businessmen in Charleston is cheating Southern merchants and is likely stealing from Cheney's father, Richard Duvall.
As Cheney and Shiloh are embroiled in the political, social, and economic troubles that plague the city, they also are drawn into events related to the beginnings of the Knights of the White Rose, a fraternal order of white supremacists. Cheney and Rissy, her companion, find that they may not only be involved in social conflicts their very lives are in danger!
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#5: Secret Place Of Thunder (1996)
Bethany House
A disturbing letter from her great-aunts has brought Cheney Duvall to their indigo plantation outside of New Orleans, but what she and Shiloh Irons discover is much more serious and dangerous than they imagined. A West Indies cult has begun performing their rituals and rites on a high knoll just across the bayou from the plantation, and warnings are sent that La Maison des Chattes Bleues is on "spirit ground" and the aunts must leave.
When the aunts refuse to leave, the cult's priestess announces that she has put a curse on them and their property. Shortly afterward, some of the servants and sharecroppers begin to suffer from a mysterious illness, and the new indigo crop seems to fail.
Cheney and Shiloh and the rest of the family and friends must find out why the cult is suddenly so interested in Les Chattes Bleues. But every attempt to protect Cheney's great-aunts only leads to increasing hostility from the cult. Soon they are afraid they may be in grave danger.
When Devlin Buchanan suddenly arrives and discovers Cheney's friend Victoria de Lancie is a houseguest at Les Chattes Bleues, unexpected complications begin. How does Victoria truly feel about the handsome young doctor? Is Devlin finally prepared to make his choice between her and Cheney?
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#6: In The Twilight In The Evening (1997)
Bethany House
Cheney Duvall and her friend Victoria de Lancie travel from New Orleans to San Francisco, escorted by Shiloh Irons. Cheney takes a position in the St. Francis de Yerba Buena Hospital, a large experimental private facility that is administered by Dr. J.E. Baird. Shiloh obtains work as a medical assistant among the hospital staff, administering the nursing staff and other male attendants.
Working in the hospital proves to be quite different from Cheney's experience in private practice. Although Dr. Baird and most of the doctors at St. Francis treat her with respect, she finds that the medical personnel are doubtful of her character, her intent, and her skills. She must prove herself and assert her authority again and again.
One of the conflicts Cheney faces is that of fair and conscientious medical treatment of what are considered unfit persons. San Francisco teems with brothels, criminal gangs, and poverty-stricken vagrants and immigrants. The hospital's board of directors has decreed that none of these people will receive treatment, regardless of their ability to pay. When Cheney fights to combat these prejudices, she finds that the only support she can count on is from Shiloh Irons.
But when catastrophe suddenly strikes, even Cheney finds that none of her medical education has prepared her for such an overwhelming disaster. With so many casualties with severe injuries, who will help?
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#7: Island Of The Innocent (1998)
Bethany House
As the Petrel sails closer toward the House of the Sun, Cheney Duvall and Dr. Walker Baird, her colleague from St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco, arrive in Hawaii to try to convince Shiloh Irons to return with them. Though Shiloh believes the Winslows might be his long-lost family, Cheney has discovered some disturbing facts about Bain Winslow and has traveled all this way to warn Shiloh. The Winslows have refused to acknowledge any kinship to him and believe he is nothing more than a con man bent on stealing the family fortunes.
When Cheney pays a call on the Winslows with Dr. Baird to thank them for a generous donation to the hospital where she works, her curiosity and ire are raised by Denise Winslow's haughty demeanor. She and Walker set out to help Shiloh unravel the mysteries that seemingly surround the Winslows' determination to drive him from the island. With the fish compass and tapestry stolen the only tangible clues to Shiloh's origins will he ever learn his true identity?
Caught between the river of lava creeping toward the beach and the waters teeming with frenzied sharks and poisonous Portuguese man-of-war, Cheney must make the most difficult decision of her life. Will Shiloh return in time to rescue them from the fiery destruction spewing from Haleakala?
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#8: Driven With The Wind (2000)
Bethany House
During the month-long journey, Shiloh asks Cheney to be his bride. It is the day she both feared and anticipated. Her answer, however, can only be a refusal. Shiloh is not a believer, and he soon grows bitter over her rejection. Cheney, meanwhile, is devastated that she has allowed herself to fall so fully in love with him.
When they arrive in New York, the couple discovers that their friends are having second thoughts about their own marriage. Like Cheney and Shiloh, they struggle by frail human means to solve their problems. A revengeful plan that could ruin Cheney’s reputation and medical practice is the final trial that drives them into the arms of the Lord.
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