Love Comes Softly

Based on Janette Oke's best-selling book series, and directed by Michael Landon Jr., Loves Comes Softly is inspired story-telling for the whole family. Marty and Aaron Claridge (Katherine Heigl and Oliver Macready) travel west in search of new opportunity. But when tragedy strikes and Marty is suddenly widowed, the young woman must face the rugged terrain, bleak weather, and life among strangers-alone. That is until a handsome widower named Clark Davis ( Dale Midkiff) suggests a platonic "marriage of convenience" until Marty can return home. As the months pass, through, Marty and Clark discover an unexpected new love where there was once only loss.

Set in a frontier world of bonnets and one-room schoolhouses, Love's Enduring Promise follows a headstrong young teacher named Missie (January Jones, Bandits), the daughter of Clark and Marty Davis (Dale Midkiff and Katherine Heigl) from previous prairie romance Love Comes Softly. After Clark injures himself in a woodcutting accident, the family farm is in danger of failing--until a handsome young stranger (Logan Bartholomew) helps out. Missie finds herself drawn to this man, but the intelligence and graciousness of young railroad magnate (Mackenzie Austin, How to Deal) appeals to a side of her that yearns to go beyond the hills and valleys of her childhood. What could be romantic froth becomes a quiet, well-paced, and thoughtful love story, thanks to a solid script, capable performances, and clean direction. Jones is particularly engaging; Missie could have been blandly virtuous, but Jones draws a rich and subtle range of emotions out of her scenes. Religious viewers will appreciate the movie's commitment to wholesome storytelling and clear moral perspective. Love's Enduring Promise, like Love Comes Softly, is based on a novel by Christian writer Janet Oke, though Love's Enduring Promise departs more from its source. --Bret Fetzer

Missie's shocking discovery is not the end of the story in Love's Long Journey. After all the planning and dreaming, Missie and Willie LaHaye were actually on the trail west in a covered wagon. Leaving behind the prairie home of Clark and Marty Davis, Missie finds herself caught between the elation of the new adventure and wondering if she'll ever see her family again.

Directed by Michael Landon, Jr., this fourth installment in Janette Oke's beloved "Love Comes Softly" series is now a satisfying, heartwarming feature. Following a treacherous journey West, Missie and her husband have set up a homestead where they've begun to raise a family. And now that a railroad line connects the states, Missie's father is able to visit. But when the joyful reunion is interrupted by tragedy, the faith and love of this family is once again challenged in a story you and your family will never forget.

Missie three years later: being a single mother after her husband Willie was shot during a poker scuffle. She and Maddy move back in with her parents Clark and Marty. She finds a new home, and finds a new teaching position that she settles right into, but Missie has lost all faith in herself, until a chance encounter at her father's church where she adopts homeless orphan Belinda Marshall. Missie didn't want to adopt another child into the family, as she is already taking care of Addie, but decides to welcome her in with open arms. Missie also finds interest in Zack Tyler, the town's sheriff. There are subplots and incidents that mirror Missie's tragic losses, and through the experiences will she ever find a way to bring hope and joy?

Another generation of spunky pioneer women wrestles with love and life in Love's Unfolding Dream, the sixth in a series of movies based on the Christian romance novels of Janette Oke. Belinda (Scout Taylor-Compton), the adopted daughter of Missy and Zach Tyler (Erin Cottrell and Victor Browne of Love's Unending Legacy), aspires to become a doctor--but though the local doctor needs an assistant, he believes women should stay in the home. As Belinda fights this prejudice, a young law student named Drew (Patrick Levis) comes to her frontier town and soon sparks Belinda's heart. Meanwhile, Missy fights to help a woman whose husband is threatened by his wife's increasing education. Love's Unfolding Dream, like the other movies in this series that began with Love Comes Softly, follows the successful formula of good-looking young people frolicking in a tidy pioneer fantasy (even a moment of gruesome surgery doesn't have a spot of blood), combining wholesome romance, religious values, and homespun feminism. The storytelling is brisk and efficient, the performances comfortable and earnest; Compton, in a role that's 180 degree turn from her starring turn in the 2007 version of Halloween, makes a charming heroine. Fans will find Love's Unfolding Dream as satisfying as the rest of the series (though some lovers of Oke's novels may be dismayed that this movie, like some of the others, alters the book's original storyline). Also featuring Robert Pine (CHiPs) as the cantankerous country doctor. --Bret Fetzer

Janette Oke’s tales of Christian pioneer romance continue with Love Takes Wing. Belinda Simpson (Sarah Jones, Big Love), struggling to recover from the loss of her husband and her faith, comes to a small Missouri town to become the local doctor. Her reception is cold--the locals are surprised to find that she’s a woman--and she’s immediately faced with a tough challenge in the form of an infection that is spreading through the town that has everyone frightened and eager to blame the local orphanage as the source. With the help of her best friend, Annie (Haylie Duff, 7th Heaven), and the town’s handsome young blacksmith (Jordan Bridges), Belinda fights to find a cure--and to open her heart to love and the Lord. The fight with illness makes Love Takes Wing one of the most dramatically successful stories of the Love Comes Softly series; in fact, both romance and religion are relatively downplayed in favor of the medical mystery. If anything, the movie’s dramatic heart is the relationship between Belinda and a feisty young orphan girl (Annalise Basso) in whom Belinda sees a younger version of herself. A strong supporting cast, including Patrick Duffy, Lou Diamond Phillips (who also directed), and the ever-dependable Cloris Leachman, lends acting heft. Fans of the series will find Love Takes Wing a solid addition, and newcomers seeking wholesome pioneer tales can enjoy it without any experience of the previous films. --Bret Fetzer

A pregnant Dr. Annie Watson (Haylie Duff) is going to stay with her best friend, Dr. Belinda Owens (Sarah Jones) while husband, Peter, is off on a surveying job. Annie's mother-in-law, Mary (Patty Duke), a seen-it-all midwife whose homeopathic remedies and folksy wisdom are at odds with Belinda’s scientific knowledge, comes along. As Belinda deals with the headaches Mary is causing, she must also address issues at home. While her adopted daughter Lillian (Courtney Halverson) discovers the joys and pains of a first love, Belinda and her husband, Lee (Jordan Bridges), find their own relationship is suffering over Belinda’s inability to get pregnant. Just as the town learned to put its faith in Belinda as their doctor, so too must Belinda learn to accept that the best guidance for her own problems may come from unlikely sources. As the movie ends we find Annie had a little girl, despite everyone's intentions that it was a boy, and names her Melinda (Lindy). Mary is about to hop into the buggy to leave when Belinda whispers something in her ear. Her husband asked what she said, to which she replies "Oh, just telling her I'll need a mid-wife soon," a remark that she is pregnant.