Customer Reviews

Love's Abiding Joy (Love Comes Softly Series #4)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With the advent of trains, Marty and Clark finally take a vacation to visit Missie, Willie and their two little boys. Missie's beautiful stone home is already built and Willie's cattle business is doing well. The long awaited reunion is spoiled early in the trip by a horrible, unforeseen accident that threatens the family's faith, endurance and even a life. Without a doctor-- it seems a main character will die.

The two week vacation turns out very differently, but in the meantime, Clark has made a huge difference in the lives of the ranchhands and local town and area. One learns to love Cookie, Scottie and Lane in this book.

The book was a good look at the dynamics of early American Godly family life, and I am anxious to start book 5. Thank you Janette Oke.

This book was great. I was so happy to read Clark and Marty were going to visit Missie and Willie. What an ordeal the trip must have been. The visit, I could picture it in my head. Fabulous writing. I enjoyed this book as much as the first.

Recommened to anyone reading this series. I really hope this goes on film.

The person who only rated it one star is not being fair. The books were written long before the movies ever came out and they are nothing alike. Both are good in their own rights. I think the entire series is easy and delightful reading. I enjoy most of Janetter Oke's series. The Candian West is also very good.

It had been a while since I read a book, so I decided to try reading Love's Abiding Joy since I had already read the first three books in the series. Well, I'm on chapter eight, and may decide to go ahead and finish it, but it's not been as good as I hoped. It begins with the author assuring the reader that Marty still feels as young at fourty-two as she did at thirty -- and Clark is still cute with grey hair. Trust Hollywood and a shallow American mind to make us concerned that the people we read about be young and good looking. It would seem to me that people back then would age sooner due to hard lives; but if they are interesting characters, who cares? Most of what I've read so far has to do with the outward. Marty's dresses. Marty's hat. What Marty eats. Marty staying neat and tidy . . . Not that I am uninterested in the way people lived in that time period, but in a Christian book -- or even a good secular book -- I do not find a character who is mostly concerned with outward things to be very inspiring.

I really enjoyed the first three books in the series, first of all. And I enjoyed the early part of the book, describing Marty and Clark's journey by train to visit Missy and Willie, very much as well. However, Ms. Oke seemed to be relying less on the experiences of real settlers and more on melodrama as the book went on. It felt a little jarring. Also, Ms. Oke repeatedly interrupted the book with what read like selections from modern Christian tracts. I do understand that this is a Christian novel, however I prefer characters in the 19th century to express Christianity in a way that's consistent with the 19th century, not the latter part of the 20th century. For me at least, those parts of the book seemed anachronistic, and not well blended with the story. The book is still enjoyable, but it didn't seem as true to life as the first three.

I love to re read all of my favorite books from childhood and this is the first series that I had ever read. Of course, any book that my parents got me, I would devour, but I love this whole series! Including the Prairie Legacy series!

This book was GREAT from cover to cover! I love reading about Marty's family and her birthday, her anxious preparing to leave their only place she ever lived as an adult (picking out clothes, trying to be up to the latest fashions for the trip, etc)...I loved their trip out there (that second hotel...I could just picture it in my mind!)...Then the sweet reunion, Missy catching up on the family events...Clark and the rescue and then the accident...Oh, and the whole ordeal that followed after that had me crying! Janette did such a WONDERFUL job describing the entire ordeal. You could just picture the whole thing as it played out. I felt the pain of Marty and Missy and Clark. I cried with them and I rejoiced later in the story. Clark's faith and love for his family was indeed wonderful. If EVER there was a book a person facing a tragedy should read, it's this one. Clark proved that the mind is much more powerful than the body, and I'm so glad he was still able to carry bags for his wife, help her onto and off of the train, stage...Be the man of the house and work and toil for his family...Those little things mentioned in the story really added a lot to it in my opinion. I cannot say ENOUGH about this book! It was absolutely WONDERFUL!!!!!! Can't wait to read the next.

Another great story in the Love Comes Softly series. While I've seen most of the movies too, the further into the series you get, the further the movies deviate from the books, just so the reader/viewer is aware.

In this book, Missie and Willie have moved west and Clark purchases train tickets for he and Marty to travel west to see Missie. The ride is long, of course, but they make it and meet their grandchildren. They plan on staying about 2 months but through a series of events stay longer and spend the winter out west as well. Great story with new interesting characters.

Great book by Janette Oke I bought this for my daughter so she can add it to her colection of Janette Oke books, shes a teacher and reads them to her class.

I really like these books. This one is one of the best I have read so far. Marty and Clark go to visit Missy on her ranch in the west. During this visit they show that anything is possible with God and they make some really good friends. So far the movies have not followed the plot and are not nearly as good as the books. If you saw the movie you probably still want to read the book!