The Novels
The first novel in The Plantation Series featuring Cajuns, Creoles, and those who toiled among them as slaves.
Set against a fascinating backdrop of 1830s Louisiana, Always & Forever is a sweeping saga of a Creole family and of two remarkable women whose friendship will be tested by prejudice, tragedy, passion, and the love of one extraordinary man.
Since they were children running barefoot about Toulouse Plantation, Josie and Cleo have been as close as sisters, forging an unbreakable bond that defies their roles as mistress and slave. Prejudice, betrayal, and the love of the elegant, charming, and irresistibly seductive Bertrand Chamard threaten their bond of blood and friendship.
A breathtaking novel rich in history and romance about love’s power to wound, to heal, and to make everything new. Winner of Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence for Best Mainstream Novel with Romance Elements, and an Editors Choice pick from the Historical Novel Society’s reviews. Also in Portuguese as Uma Janela para o Amor and in German as Das Herz des Südens.
The second novel in The Plantation Series, Every My Love, features Cajuns, Creoles, and those who toiled among them as slaves.
On the eve of Civil War, the daughter of Southern planters finds her loyalties tested in a magnificent saga of family pride and forbidden love.
Brought up amid the luxury of plantation life, Marianne Johnston never questions her sheltered life until, driven by her conscience, she joins the Underground Railroad. Soon Marianne is living a dangerous double life, helping slaves flee by night and acting the belle by day. And nothing is riskier than her attraction to wild, heartless young Southerner Yves Chamard. Yves risks himself as a firebrand abolitionist in old Louisiana, convinced the soft-handed Miss Johnston is just another pretty, complacent belle. Together they risk reputation, fortune, and their own freedom to free every slave they can before they’re caught. Winner of the Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America’s Booksellers Best Award for historical fiction. Also in German as Melodie des Südens.
Book III of The Plantation Series, Evermore continues the saga of the African American and Creole families as they meet the greatest challenge of their era, the struggle to survive the Civil War. The Yanks have taken New Orleans. Among those few citizens welcoming them is Nicolette Chamard. A free woman of color, she risks her life to help the invaders liberate every enslaved soul in Louisiana. André Cailloux, a free man with skin as dark as Africa, presses Union General Butler to establish a Native Guard of black men. His company distinguishes itself as courageous and loyal, and André establishes himself as a great hero. Bostonian Captain Finnian McKee is enchanted by all things New Orleans, but most of all he’s enchanted by Nicolette Chamard. But war is not kind to dissidents or to lovers – Finn not only battles the Rebels, he also struggles with his own unsuspected prejudices.
Gretchen Craig’s best-selling saga continues in Elysium: Book IV of The Plantation Series. A woman with a secret, Lily Palmer flees with her six year old daughter to take refuge on her uncle’s farm in Louisiana. Here she finds herself in a world struggling with the after effects of the Civil War. For the first time, Lily is confronted with her own careless assumptions about race as she learns to appreciate the humanity of everyone around her, white and black. Threatening the fragile peace she achieves, her futile love for Alistair Whiteaker collides with her own dark past, shattering all hope for a new life.
Alistair Whiteaker returns from the war determined to make amends for having owned the men and women who toiled on his plantation. Sickened by his part in perpetuating slavery, he works to thwart the aims of white supremacists and violent racists. At the same time, he longs to make a family with Lily Palmer and her daughter. To do that, he must first eliminate the man who inflicts another kind of injustice on the woman he loves. Besieged by assaults from The Knights of the White Camellia, Thomas Bickell uses every ounce of his talent and courage to win suffrage for black men. An ex-slave himself, he knows Emancipation is not enough: To attain true and full citizenship, his people must have the vote. When Fanny Brown is assaulted by white supremacists whose true target is Thomas himself, he realizes his greatest challenge may be to reclaim the heart of his beloved.
All four titles in The Plantation Series are available on Amazon in paperback, Audio book, Kindle e-book, and Kindle Unlimited.
Also available: The Plantation Series: A Guide for Readers & Book Clubs.
Compiled by the original author, this comprehensive guide to Gretchen Craig’s Plantation Series, Always and Forever, Ever My Love, Evermore, and Elysium, includes all the information you and your book group need for a better understanding of the historical context of the novels and for rich, in-depth discussions.
Gretchen Craig 
Will you be writing another in this series? I love reading the!
Hi, Valerie. I hadn’t planned to write book 5, but readers seem to need to hear Musette’s story. I’m gonna do it. Have to think a while first, and then I’ll get to it. It’ll take a while, though. Might finish it by early next year. Thank you for your comment!
Is there a number 5 of the plantation series just recieved book number 2 thanks lady stetson.
Hi, Teresa. I’m so glad you like the books. I still haven’t written Book 5. My husband’s been ill and on chemo, and I can’t get myself in the right mindset to write. Later on, when he’s feeling better, I hope to get myself sorted out, too. I have made a start, with a young man named Daniel and, from Book 4, Musette, and our old friend Yves Chamard from Book 2. Please be patient with me, and enjoy the journey through the series.
I so love this series of books. Could you please keep these books going…these rich characters can go on for many generations.
Hello, Venis. I love these characters, too. I have begun the next book with Musette finding her own path, with her friends and family around her. But some new folks have appeared, too. I hope you’ll be patient with me. Some family concerns require my attention these days, so I’ll be a while. Have you had a look at the New Hope series starting with Here Will I Remain? These are still in Louisiana, but a century earlier.
I love hearing from you. Thank you, Venis.
Gretchen
I love your writing. I know you have a life besides writing books, but I’m looking forward to what’s next.
Thank you, Margaret. It’s wonderful to hear from you, and I love it that you like my books. I can’t say when the next was is coming, but I’m struggling on and hoping to find my way through it. Yours, Gretchen