Love's Long Journey

Love's Long Journey is book 3 in the Love Comes Softly series by Janette Oke. This series has recently been turned into a movie series on Hallmark and produced by Michael Landon Jr. I have been reading the books to see what has been changed and left out of the movies. The movies maintain the same mood and intent of the books but they are definitely not the same. I enjoyed both, but the books are better.

I enjoyed this book better than the previous two. In this story Missie and Willie LaHaye set out on their own journey to become cattle ranchers. The story chronicles the journey across the plains in a covered wagon and the early days of living in a sod house on the open range. The story has similarities to the Little House books with its description of what life would have been like. I am fairly certain I would not want to collect buffalo chips for winter warmth or living in a sod house. The people who really did live like this would have to be very strong, enduring folk.

Like the previous books their is a religious overtone of faith and trust in God. It is a gentle read with nothing objectionable in the content. The movie by the same name I think combines books 3 and 4, so I can't comment much on it. In fact the movie doesn't even show the journey by wagon which makes up most of story 3. This series is not a must read, but it is ok for light, escapist reading without fear of yucky content.

Well, anyway, until I read book 4....