Love Comes Softly Series in Order: Books & Movie Watch Order

By Anna Marie CarrollRomance

Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly series in order begins with Marty and Clark Davis, then follows their family across several generations of prairie life, faith, marriage, loss, and new beginnings. The original books are simple to read in order, but the wider world gets a little more confusing once you add the follow-up series and Hallmark movies.

For the books, publication order is also the chronological order. Start with the original Love Comes Softly series, then continue with A Prairie Legacy if you want more of the Davis family. The movies are different because Hallmark later added prequel films and a related Christmas story, so I’ve included both release order and story order below.

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Love Comes Softly Series in Order

The original Love Comes Softly series follows Marty, Clark, and the family that grows from their unexpected marriage. Each book moves the family story forward, so this is one of those series where order really does matter.

Read these books in publication order. It is also the chronological order, which makes the series easy to follow from one generation to the next.

  1. Love Comes Softly (1979)
  2. Love’s Enduring Promise (1980)
  3. Love’s Long Journey (1982)
  4. Love’s Abiding Joy (1983)
  5. Love’s Unending Legacy (1984)
  6. Love’s Unfolding Dream (1987)
  7. Love Takes Wing (1988)
  8. Love Finds a Home (1989)

A Prairie Legacy Series in Order

A Prairie Legacy is the follow-up series to Love Comes Softly. It centers on Virginia, the granddaughter of Marty and Clark Davis, and continues the family story into a new generation.

This series should also be read in publication order. It follows one connected arc, and the order is the same as the chronology.

  1. The Tender Years (1997)
  2. A Searching Heart (1998)
  3. A Quiet Strength (1999)
  4. Like Gold Refined (2000)

Love Comes Softly Companion Book

This companion book is not a novel, so it does not belong inside the main reading order. It is directly tied to the series, though, and readers who want the fuller Love Comes Softly shelf may want to know it exists.

  1. The Father of Love: Spiritual Insights from the Love Comes Softly Series (1989)

Love Comes Softly Movies in Order

The Love Comes Softly movies are best split into two lists: release order and story order. The first eight movies share titles with the original novels, but the Hallmark adaptations make changes to characters, ages, and plot details. The later movies add prequel and related-family stories created for the screen.

If you want the order audiences saw them in, use this release-order list.

  1. Love Comes Softly (April 13, 2003)
  2. Love’s Enduring Promise (November 20, 2004)
  3. Love’s Long Journey (December 3, 2005)
  4. Love’s Abiding Joy (October 6, 2006)
  5. Love’s Unending Legacy (April 7, 2007)
  6. Love’s Unfolding Dream (December 15, 2007)
  7. Love Takes Wing (April 4, 2009)
  8. Love Finds a Home (April 11, 2009)
  9. Love Begins (September 17, 2011)
  10. Love’s Everlasting Courage (October 1, 2011)
  11. Love’s Christmas Journey (November 5, 2011)

Love Comes Softly Movies in Chronological Order

The chronological movie order starts with the two prequel films about Clark’s earlier life, then moves into the original movie run. Love’s Christmas Journey is the tricky one. It is connected to the same screen world, but it does not fit the book timeline as neatly as the main films.

For the simplest watch order, place Love’s Christmas Journey at the end. That keeps the main Clark, Marty, and Missie arc intact before moving to the related holiday story.

  1. Love Begins (2011)
  2. Love’s Everlasting Courage (2011)
  3. Love Comes Softly (2003)
  4. Love’s Enduring Promise (2004)
  5. Love’s Long Journey (2005)
  6. Love’s Abiding Joy (2006)
  7. Love’s Unending Legacy (2007)
  8. Love’s Unfolding Dream (2007)
  9. Love Takes Wing (2009)
  10. Love Finds a Home (2009)
  11. Love’s Christmas Journey (2011, related holiday story)

Who is Janette Oke?

Janette Oke is a Canadian author best known for Christian historical fiction set on the North American frontier. She was born in Alberta and grew up with prairie life close around her, which helps explain why the setting in Love Comes Softly feels so central to the story.

Before writing fiction, Oke studied at Mountain View Bible College and later raised a family with her husband, Edward. She began writing the story that became Love Comes Softly after her children were older, and the novel was published by Bethany House in 1979.

Her books are rooted in faith, family, endurance, and everyday love. That is the main reason Love Comes Softly still works for so many readers. It is gentle, but it is not empty. The characters face grief, hard choices, loneliness, and change, then keep building a life anyway.

What is the Love Comes Softly Series About?

Love Comes Softly is Christian historical romance about a pioneer family living through hardship, faith, marriage, and generational change. The first book begins with Marty, a young widow stranded on the frontier, and Clark, a widower who offers her a practical marriage so both of them can survive the winter.

From there, the series follows the Davis family across children, marriages, moves, losses, and new homes. The story grows past Marty and Clark, but their choices shape the rest of the series.

The Hallmark movies follow the same general world, but they are not exact adaptations. They change some major details, especially around ages, names, and family relationships. The books are the better guide to the original Davis family story, while the movies work best as their own version of the world.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Books in Order index.

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