"Love Comes Softly" by Janette Oke begins with young pioneers Martha "Marty" and her husband Clem traveling west in a covered wagon sometime in the late 1800s. When Clem is killed in an accident, a pregnant Marty finds herself stranded in the midwest with no way to get back home.
Widower Clark comes to the rescue with a proposition. If Marty will consent to a platonic marriage with him and take care of his daughter Missie, then Clark would pay for Marty's trip home in the spring.
A modern reader might wonder why it would be necessary for Marty and Clark to be married in order for Marty and Clark to live in the same house. Today, a man and woman living together is more or less accepted by society, but a 100 years ago it was a much different story.
At first, Marty deeply resents the arrangement while she grieves for her dead husband, but slowly she comes to appreciate Clark as a kind and gentle man and a hard worker.
From the title, "Love Comes Softly" it is not hard for the reader to guess the ending. Still, I very much enjoyed the story of two people overcoming grief and falling in love.
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