Love's Unending Legacy (Love Comes Softly Series #5) (original 1984; edition 2004)

Love Comes Softly Series, Book 5

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.