Strike 2 for this author. If the sixth book is as bland and preachy as this, I won't be able to finish the series, which is such a shame because her Canadian West series is fantastic. I'm so disappointed that this series isn't matching that, especially since this one had so much potential!

There are two main plots in this book. The first is the rest of the family now needs to adjust to Clark's injury. The second is Marty is pregnant again, but she's having doubts. First with Clark: I ranted in my review of the fourth book that Clark never doubted his faith in frustration. He just accepted his new life. This made the story boring and, frankly, uninspirational. When their adopted daughter starts doubting her faith, she becomes angry and reserved. I would think "conflict! yes!" However, I was disappointed because her doubt was mentioned a couple of times in the beginning of the book and then not at all until one chapter near the end. She basically disappeared from the story, so the struggle didn't build. It was resolved in a very bland way.

Second, Marty's pregnancy. Marty doesn't want this child because she's older than when she gave birth to her other children, and she's concerned about her health. This is a fair concern. She lives in a rural area during a time when medicine was still very primitive. There was no prenatal care of any kind back then. Marty worries for a couple of chapters, thinking about how she doesn't want the baby, worrying about how others will perceive her, worrying about appearance when she gives birth at the same time as her daughter-in-law. Again, these are all fair concerns, and I was invested in Marty's journey to love and accept her new child. Similar to the adopted daughter's subplot, this also had a quick resolution. The first time she felt the baby kick, she fell in love with the child. That was it. To be fair, I've never been pregnant. I don't know what it would be like to carry a child. Still, I expected more inner wrestling with Marty. Perhaps she accepted the child at that moment, but then she still has reservations once the thrill goes away. Nope. She is thoroughly thrilled to have that baby and has no more qualms about it.

This book was more episodic than narrative, and that's probably why I struggled with it. I prefer to read about someone struggling to overcome some odd or achieve some goal. I want to read about characters developing, growing, overcoming obstacles. To me, watching a flawed character evolve through hardship is more inspirational than a happy-go-lucky family planting in their field and celebrating Christmas. Even when hardship does hit, it's overcome by the next chapter. This doesn't engage me. However, if you don't like grit, and this is your castle in the sky, go for it. ( )

50255

In the fifth book in the Love Comes Softly series "Marty and Clark Davis arrive home from a visit out west with daughter Missie knowing there are changes ahead for them. But are they prepared for the changes that have taken place while they were gone?"

I wanted to like it, I really did. I had seen the movie based on the first book in this series, Love Comes Softly, and had enjoyed it. It was sweet without being ridiculously sappy, and while having a Christian worldview, it didn’t beat you over the head with religion. I can’t say the same about this book. It was unbearably saccharine with lines like, “she looked forward to being a housewife rather than a housekeeper” (p. 196), “but, thought Marty, thankfully, she will always be my daughter, no matter what her name” (p. 198), and “one of her hands clasped firmly to the finger on her father’s hand. The other tiny baby fist was knotted in the front of Marty’s gown. And so she held them both. Not just with childish fingers but with cords of love” (p. 221), to name a few. The storyline was so ridiculously predictable – not just the final outcome, but every little event along the way. Also, it was one thing to have some Christian dogma thrown in here and there – I expected that. But there were two long scenes in which nothing happened in relation to the plot – they were merely there to preach. It’s one thing when it’s at least partially related to the plot, but it’s a whole other thing when the author suddenly decides to write a sermon in the midst of a romance/domestic novel. The other annoying thing is that the author can’t figure out who she wants to tell the story, so the perspective shifts repeatedly, without warning, sometimes literally every other sentence. On the plus side, it’s a light and quick read, although I can’t really recommend it. ( )

Marty's family is growing up. The baby wants to become a doctor. Ellie finds a new husband and Clare and Kate anticipate the birth of a new baby. Marty has a new baby, too, whom they name Belinda, quite a surprise to everyone.