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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
The First Christian Romance I Ever Read
I read Love Comes Softly several years ago and really enjoyed it. Now, I'm not sure that "enjoyed" is the right word. Love Comes Softly has a very complementarian Christian feel to it, which is partly to do with the time when it was written, which didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book, but it certainly didn't add anything to my reading either.
While I didn't see a lot in Love Comes Softly that I disagreed with theologically, I'm not sure that I saw a lot that I agreed with theologically as well. Which makes my reading a little more complicated because I really want to have positives to report on.
Overall, I give Love Comes Softly a 3.75 rating.
I read Love Comes Softly several years ago and really enjoyed it. Now, I'm not sure that "enjoyed" is the right word. Love Comes Softly has a very complementarian Christian feel to it, which is partly to do with the time when it was written, which didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book, but it certainly didn't add anything to my reading either.
While I didn't see a lot in Love Comes Softly that I disagreed with theologically, I'm not sure that I saw a lot that I agreed with theologically as well. Which makes my reading a little more complicated because I really want to have positives to report on.
Overall, I give Love Comes Softly a 3.75 rating.
So this ended up being my inspiration read for the URR 2017 new years challenge. I wasn't actually planning on reading this, it wasn't really in my TBR as I don't tend to be too interested in inspirational/christian romances often. This was one of those cases where amazon suggested a different book by this author for me, and I vaguely recognized the name and discovered this book (her first I think) was available on kindle unlimited. I realized that at some point when I was 13 or so I read at least one book in this series and liked it (though 13 year old me had terrible judgement so it can be risky to go by that) so I decided why not, and dove right in.
This book is set in a mid-western farm-steading type area where the nearest town doesn't have a church. It was about a woman whose husband literally just died, and marries the same day as the funeral, for the simple reason she doesn't have other choices and has no time to even think about it as the preacher probably won't be back until spring. She doesn't know the man she marries, he only needs someone who can be a mother to his young daughter as his own wife died too. (Mutual tragedy! sudden forced life change Perfect starting point for lots of emotional angst! No wonder I remember liking these books..) The woman has almost zero religious background apart from funerals and weddings, while the man is a devout christian (not that she knows this until after they marry)
So the christian angle was a bit over played in a few scenes. Overall the idea of this woman coming into this house where the man would pray and read the bible as part of every meal, made the references less jarring because it was simply part of the day to day, but the way it was integrated at times made it feel forced. Especially given that this book tended to gloss over huge sections of the daily specifics, so instead after awhile it often came across like the author was trying to tell me as a reader this was supposed to be Really Important Stuff So Pay Attention. Which is all well and good, except it made certain passages read disjointed, undermining the immersion for me. The more inspirational nature of the story did work well overall, albeit at times forced, and I didn't have a problem with it being a part of the story as much as I expected, I just felt it needed a bit more editing to smooth out the balance.
The tragic reasons for the marriage of convenience with her sudden life change was very emotionally believable for me and made up for a lot of my problems, including the strange pacing and sometimes awkward way of writing dialogue. The way she kept pushing herself to work far too hard every day to keep from falling apart felt heart-wrenchingly true to life, especially when she realizes that perhaps he is dealing with the same type of pain himself.
I very much liked that (true to the title) the book wasn't about a sudden falling in love, or where the heroine fights it the entire way, instead it was about two people slowly finding the way out of personal tragedies and into this relationship after they are already married for simple necessity. During the first 30% of the book the heroine of the book is so caught up in her own struggles and pain, she resents everything the hero does for her, unable to recognize that his own motivations might not be what she thinks they are. As she begins to come out of her pain more they begin to develop a friendship maybe around halfway through, and finally come together at the very last maybe a year after they marry. This kind of long term relationship development is always something I find more believable, especially where the two characters didn't know each other before and are both dealing with their own grief already.
I found the ending too abrupt, possibly because there are 7 other books in the series, but it did end in an almost believably hea type moment so it wasn't terrible.
Rating was harder than usual, so I just broke it out in arbitrary (made up on the spot) sub-ratings. For the emotional impact I would probably have rated it 4 stars, for the overall writing maybe 3, for the pacing of scenes probably only 2.5, and for the inspirational angle, maybe 2.5. So 3 it is I guess?
I would recommend to people who like or don't mind christian themed romances (with LOTS over overt references), marriage of conveniences, and lots of tragic moments.
This book is set in a mid-western farm-steading type area where the nearest town doesn't have a church. It was about a woman whose husband literally just died, and marries the same day as the funeral, for the simple reason she doesn't have other choices and has no time to even think about it as the preacher probably won't be back until spring. She doesn't know the man she marries, he only needs someone who can be a mother to his young daughter as his own wife died too. (Mutual tragedy! sudden forced life change Perfect starting point for lots of emotional angst! No wonder I remember liking these books..) The woman has almost zero religious background apart from funerals and weddings, while the man is a devout christian (not that she knows this until after they marry)
So the christian angle was a bit over played in a few scenes. Overall the idea of this woman coming into this house where the man would pray and read the bible as part of every meal, made the references less jarring because it was simply part of the day to day, but the way it was integrated at times made it feel forced. Especially given that this book tended to gloss over huge sections of the daily specifics, so instead after awhile it often came across like the author was trying to tell me as a reader this was supposed to be Really Important Stuff So Pay Attention. Which is all well and good, except it made certain passages read disjointed, undermining the immersion for me. The more inspirational nature of the story did work well overall, albeit at times forced, and I didn't have a problem with it being a part of the story as much as I expected, I just felt it needed a bit more editing to smooth out the balance.
The tragic reasons for the marriage of convenience with her sudden life change was very emotionally believable for me and made up for a lot of my problems, including the strange pacing and sometimes awkward way of writing dialogue. The way she kept pushing herself to work far too hard every day to keep from falling apart felt heart-wrenchingly true to life, especially when she realizes that perhaps he is dealing with the same type of pain himself.
I very much liked that (true to the title) the book wasn't about a sudden falling in love, or where the heroine fights it the entire way, instead it was about two people slowly finding the way out of personal tragedies and into this relationship after they are already married for simple necessity. During the first 30% of the book the heroine of the book is so caught up in her own struggles and pain, she resents everything the hero does for her, unable to recognize that his own motivations might not be what she thinks they are. As she begins to come out of her pain more they begin to develop a friendship maybe around halfway through, and finally come together at the very last maybe a year after they marry. This kind of long term relationship development is always something I find more believable, especially where the two characters didn't know each other before and are both dealing with their own grief already.
I found the ending too abrupt, possibly because there are 7 other books in the series, but it did end in an almost believably hea type moment so it wasn't terrible.
Rating was harder than usual, so I just broke it out in arbitrary (made up on the spot) sub-ratings. For the emotional impact I would probably have rated it 4 stars, for the overall writing maybe 3, for the pacing of scenes probably only 2.5, and for the inspirational angle, maybe 2.5. So 3 it is I guess?
I would recommend to people who like or don't mind christian themed romances (with LOTS over overt references), marriage of conveniences, and lots of tragic moments.
If you dislike stories that tell instead of show, don't read this.
If lots of "hick" accents annoy you, don't read this.
If you want sappy romance, don't read this.
If possible historical inaccuracies bother you, don't read this.
If you prefer books where you live with the characters instead of watching from the sidelines, don't read this.
Otherwise, enjoy the story.
I have never read any book by Janette Oke, but I had heard so much about them and how good they are, that when I found the kindle version for free, I got it. I can't say I was impressed. The story was fine, and I liked the ending. I liked the characters, but never felt like I would cry or laugh with them. Much of the story was told instead of shown, which didn't bother me, but I was a little surprised. The fact that the main character who had just arrived from the east, had the exact same "hick" accent as the westerners made me raise my eyebrows. Huh? Some historical things that didn't sound accurate to me at all.
Overall, I enjoyed the story okay, I might read it again, but it's not on my recommend or read again soon list.
If lots of "hick" accents annoy you, don't read this.
If you want sappy romance, don't read this.
If possible historical inaccuracies bother you, don't read this.
If you prefer books where you live with the characters instead of watching from the sidelines, don't read this.
Otherwise, enjoy the story.
I have never read any book by Janette Oke, but I had heard so much about them and how good they are, that when I found the kindle version for free, I got it. I can't say I was impressed. The story was fine, and I liked the ending. I liked the characters, but never felt like I would cry or laugh with them. Much of the story was told instead of shown, which didn't bother me, but I was a little surprised. The fact that the main character who had just arrived from the east, had the exact same "hick" accent as the westerners made me raise my eyebrows. Huh? Some historical things that didn't sound accurate to me at all.
Overall, I enjoyed the story okay, I might read it again, but it's not on my recommend or read again soon list.
Such a moving story of loss, faith, family and love. I enjoyed it even more the second time. I haven't read the others in the series, so I'll be reading those soon.
This is such a sweet, innocent book. I love the simplicity of both the writing and the setting. I will probably read more in the series but will definitely watch the movies.
3.5
Truth be told, one of the only reasons I picked this book up was because the main character's name was Marty.
I hadn't expected to find this book so... endearing. Or sweet, or somewhat relate-able. I kind of fell in love with the characters, mainly Marty, however. Her journey, her character development, was all very captivating. I had no trouble reading this at all.
There were some coincidences that I found absolutely... weird and amazing. One, the name Marty (being a name that I go by sometimes and that I love.) Two, that the author grew up in the same province/city as I did. And three, little Clare was born on the exact day as my little brother. (I picked up that detail, yes.) And him growing up in the book was so... accurate for me? In a sense. It was funny to read, anyway.
I think I also much prefer the book to the movie(s). It has a different feeling.
I loved the changes, as I previously stated. And as simple as this book was, I really enjoyed it.
Truth be told, one of the only reasons I picked this book up was because the main character's name was Marty.
I hadn't expected to find this book so... endearing. Or sweet, or somewhat relate-able. I kind of fell in love with the characters, mainly Marty, however. Her journey, her character development, was all very captivating. I had no trouble reading this at all.
There were some coincidences that I found absolutely... weird and amazing. One, the name Marty (being a name that I go by sometimes and that I love.) Two, that the author grew up in the same province/city as I did. And three, little Clare was born on the exact day as my little brother. (I picked up that detail, yes.) And him growing up in the book was so... accurate for me? In a sense. It was funny to read, anyway.
I think I also much prefer the book to the movie(s). It has a different feeling.
I loved the changes, as I previously stated. And as simple as this book was, I really enjoyed it.