When Comes the Spring

Starts very slow I was just about to give up on it. Very different from the TV series. Focuses too long on the wedding and honeymoon at least for my liking. But the trip out to Beaver River and depiction of life out there was vividly expressed.

Elizabeth once braved the frontier to fill a teaching position, but now she'll find out if she has what it takes to make it in the North as the new wife of a Mountie in When Comes the Spring by author Janette Oke.

It took some time for me to really get into this second novel in the Canadian West series. While the events of the book's first half didn't exactly seem to drag, they still felt stretched out to the point of being stretched thin. The sweetness around Elizabeth and Wynn's wedding was spread on rather thickly (too thickly), and because Elizabeth had already learned a pretty tough way of life in the West, it seemed strange that she'd now get huffy and/or weepy with Wynn on account of conveniences he can't offer as they start out show more in the North.

But, maybe it's just all the prairie and frontier novels I've read that gave me a low expectation of conveniences--novels that Elizabeth doesn't know about. Besides, though she gets snively sometimes, she recognizes it and does something productive about it every time. And then the story picks up about halfway through, when she and Wynn reach their new home and the challenges awaiting them there. I especially appreciate what Elizabeth learns about herself in regards to her native neighbors, particularly the women she meets.

I'm on a mission to finally get this entire series read, and I'm enjoying the mission. On to Book Three. show less

This is book two in the When Calls the Heart Series. This book is much slower and has a lot less plot than book one. Elizabeth and Wynn are married and move to his new Mountie post. Times are tough as Wynn is often away. The description of the loneliness and harsh winters are heart-felt. Hoping that book three has more of a plot! 260 pages 3.5 stars

The second book in the "Canadian West" series, about a young woman from Toronto who goes west to teach, meets and marries a Mountie, and learns to live in the primitive North and love the people there. Again, these books present the gospel and Christian living clearly and naturally in the course of conversations, the characters are realistic and honorable, and the stories are satisfying. I enjoyed the narrator of the audiobooks.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series. It has a lot more religion and God talk than the first, which is fine, it's just not what I usually read and doesn't keep me interested. I'll still try the next book in the series just not right away. I missed Elizabeth's interaction with children being a teacher but it was interesting to see her in the new wild setting of the north with Wynn.

This was book 2 in the series and you really need to read book one first, because book 2 starts right up where the first book leaves off. This story finds Elizabeth beginning her life with Wynn, but where they are sent by the North West Mounted Police leaves alot to be desired. Elizabeth must learn how to live simply where no other white women live and to learn to handle the long and cruel winters. Can their love for each other endure through the harsh conditions, the loneliness and the daily hardships of life?
I enjoyed reading of Elizabeth's life, and really came to appreciate her new friend Mrs. McLain. When she comes to understand how all the Bible stories she has been reading are true, it was just a precious and well written moment. show more I always appreciate it when the author explains the gospel plan in her books. Looking forward to book 3. show less

In When Comes the Spring, the second book in the Canada West series by Janette Oke, "Elizabeth, the lovely young eastern schoolteacher, has braved the western frontier and spent a year teaching in a one-room schoolhouse. Now she and Wynn, her Royal Canadian Mountie, are planning their wedding and their new life together at his outpost in the far north. Will their love for each other sustain them through a harsh winter, loneliness and the rigors of life without any of the conveniences they have been accustomed to?"