Canadian West Books In Order

Publication Order of Canadian West Books

Publication Order of Return To The Canadian West Books

As a pioneer of inspirational fiction, Janet Oke is a highly accomplished Canadian author with numerous titles under her name. Most of her works are usually centered on female protagonists while the setting is usually in the pioneer era. Janet was born on the 18th of February 1935 during the Great Depression to a Canadian grass farmer, Fred Steeves and his wife, Amy Steeves. After completing her high school education, she joined the Mountain View Bible College in Alberta. It was during her college years that she met her husband, Edward Oke. In the year 1957, they got married. After their marriage, they started to evangelize in several churches in Calgary, Edmonton and Indiana. Later on, her husband went ahead to be the president of the bible view college. Currently, Janet and Edward have 4 children. One of her children is an author and has even co-authored with Janet in one of her books.

Janet’s first novel was named Love Comes Softly, and was published in the year, 1975 at Bethany house. After her first novel, 75 more followed and several others which are still yet to be published. In the year 1992, Janet received the President’s Award which was given to her by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Later on, in the year 1999, she was given the CBA Life Impact Award which was to be later followed by the Gold Medallion Award.

When Calls the Heart

When calls the heart is the first installment in the Canadian West series by Janet Oke. As the first book in the series we are introduced to one Elizabeth Thatcher, a very young teacher who has become accustomed to her rather high society life. She receives her first job and classroom post in a prairie town, located in the Western frontier which is led by one headstrong coalminer widows Frances and Abigail. Since she is just starting out in life, she is more than determined to prove and show her family that she is strong and brave enough to live on her own. Irrespective of this she still has her own doubts and fears. Once she discovers Aunt’s Elizabeth’s secret diary, she learns that her aunt was a pioneer woman and someone who just like her struggled with the life in prairie. During her life in prairie, Elizabeth had fallen in love with a Canadian Royal, named Mountie.

After going through the diary, Elizabeth was inspired by the words of her aunt, together with her unflattering determination, Elizabeth decides to embark on her own adventure. She decides to use the diary as a guide and her family friend Edward and Mountie as her support. With that being said, this book was delightfully different from all the other inspiration books. There are several things which you should expect in any romance novels. Nonetheless, the setting and the plot had new and exciting twists. In addition, the author uses first person narration which accomplishes the job of pulling the author deeply into the story.

When Comes the Spring

When Comes the Spring is the 2nd installment in the Canadian West book series. Since it is the second installment, the story continues where the first book had left off from. In this book, Elizabeth prepares for her wedding with her royal Fiancée Wynn. But the unfortunate happens and Wynn becomes posted earlier than expected. This in turn means that the wedding has to be rushed to a more modest scale. The two families meet, the service is completed and the two honeymooners decide to take a few days off right before they head to the wilderness in the Northern Country. Their very first argument involved a pair of boots and trousers. This becomes her very first lesson with which she has to learn; to sacrifice her feminine vanity and modesty for safety purposes. As the book continues, she learns more and more lessons some of which involved prayer and tears.

After completing their journey which involved being thrown into the river with uncouth me, Elizabeth eventually reaches a point called Beaver Point Settlement, a place she discovers that there are a few white people. Upon seeing that there isn’t any white woman with whom she can be able to bond with, she becomes crushed. Additionally, she does not have a great command of the Indian tongue. Thus, she has to communicate using a few native words and gestures, thrown here and there. While on the camp, she offered sewing lessons, tea and bible studies, but her main dream and goal was to establish a great school for the Indians. All in all, the story is well told and the author has done a great job of giving a great insight into the wildlife in Canada.

Where Trust Lies

After teaching for more than a year at the Canadian West, Beth decides to return home. Before completely settling down, her mother announces that she has planned a family vacation for the entire family, a luxurious trip along the United States and the Canadian coast. With the hopes of reconnecting with her sisters and mother, Elizabeth agrees very quickly to join them. It does not take long for Elizabeth to notice that things changed ever since she went away, thus renewing the bond they had was going to take much longer and also was going to be much more challenging than she had previously thought. Despite everything being out of place, there was one special thing that she had to look forward to, the telephone calls and letters from Jarrick, the guy who stole her heart. The distance between the two of them was hard to bear.

At this point in her life, Elizabeth is at crossroads, because giving her heart to Jarrick will mean that she was going to have to say goodbye to her family once again. In addition, is she still going to want to stay in the western wilds after the tour opens up places and people she had never though existed. Later on in the book, Elizabeth’s final test comes to pass. Someone in her family has gone ahead and trusted a wrong person hence everything that Elizabeth loves and knows becomes toppled. At this point she is torn between her family and her dreams. Is Beth really going to discover who her heart really belongs to?

One Response to “Canadian West”

1. Cindy: 4 years ago

   Yes I love the series of when calls the heart on the hallmark channel, wher can I buy the series of the books

   Reply