Free books are my new hobby. I stalk Amazon on a daily basis to see what goodies I can snag for zero dollars. I don't read a ton of Christian fiction but I had heard of Janette Oke. She is nothing if not prolific. Oke takes up two shelves at the library. That's a bunch of books people.
So I started with Love Comes Softly. It was actually pretty good. The main character, Marty finds herself on PAGE ONE barely pregnant and widowed in a broken down covered wagon somewhere in the west. A widower, named Clark, proposes marriage on the same day. He has a two year old to raise so this marriage of convenience works for both of them. The rest of the first book is a charming story about her 'learning curve' as a frontier homemaker. Marty's baby is born. Clark buys her a sewing machine. That's about it. It ain't an action packed book. But I was willing to forgive the lack of drama. It was sweet and understated.
After I finished, I headed to the library. I realized that the book I had just read was the first in what appears to be a gazillion part series. I picked up Love's Enduring Promise with anticipation. See I was expecting a Little House on the Prairie kinda series. The problem is that nothing bad ever happens to Oke's characters. Babies are born in the back room with no complications. Kids never get sick. The crop never fails. Indians never attack. It's just weird. I assume Oke has a cadre of faithful readers who love the fact that book after book is nothing but happiness and joy. I'm just not one of those people.
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