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My Review:Title: Love Comes Softly (Love Comes Softly, #1)
Author: Janette Oke
Series: Love Comes Softly #1
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: January 1, 1979
Pages: 242
Genres: Contemporary, Western, Romance, Religious
Reading Challenges: CC's Goodreads Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:
Blurb:Marty and Clem set out for the pioneer West full of hopes and dreams. They would stake a claim of their own on the new frontier, and build a home for themselves and their family.
But just after they'd arrived and Clem had chosen the perfect setting for their new home, an accident took his life...leaving Marty alone and pregnant. Then, on the day of his funeral, Clark Davis came along...and asked Marty to marry him!
Marty was infuriated -- but with no money, no shelter, and a baby on the way, what choice did she have? Besides, Clark said he only wanted her to be a mama to his baby girl, Missie. If Marty was still unhappy come spring, he would pay for her ticket back East.
Determined not to be a burden to Clark, and intending only to earn her keep. Marty threw herself into her new role of "Mama." But she had never been anyone's mama before, and she didn't even know how to keep a house! If only she could do right by this lonely man and his daughter just long enough to earn her train fare back home...
Now, Marty must learn wholeness and love through patience and faith
I read a Christian Western!!! And I liked it. This was a good one. I really enjoyed the back story, it was intense and deeply moving for both the male (Clark) and female (Marty) MC’s. I don’t know what I would have done in her position. The West was really wild in this book and the hardships they endured served to only reinforce the need to stick together.
I loved how even in Marty’s grief she kept her head about her and did what she needed to do to survive. And she wasn’t too proud to ask for help. She was a self aware woman and went in whole hog with very little resentment and blame on her end. She had every reason to feel that way! But she didn’t let pity or pettiness grow in her heart. The little she did feel disappeared the longer they worked together for their families. She started out a bit overwhelmed but Clark made it ridiculously easy to adjust. He was a bit stand-offish which is understandable considering how they came to be married. You could see the little things they did for each other to make life easier. His commenting on how much he enjoyed her coffee stuck out for me as special for some reason. And her asking him about Jesus and the bible was a tender moment for them as well.
At first it felt like they would always be strangers but as we got to know each characters personality, you could see some of the things they each did for each other that showed their true feelings. This is a super slow burn romance and I don’t even know if you could call it a romance at all really since there is no actual kissing or ‘moments’ for them. Their quest for survival really over shadows the romance, but I enjoyed it all very much.
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