When Calls the Heart (Canadian West, 1)

I fell in love with this wonderful book. It was absolutely perfect for getting me out of a book slump.It's a slice of life, slow burn romance taking place in the early 1900s in the Canadian frontier. He's a mountie and she's a school teacher. Loved learning about life out west. It's slow yet calming and interesting.

Thank you so much! This book is truly a treasure that should be read by everyone! It's so heartwarming and also shows the true challenges of the west and what it was like to tame an open frontier. I loved it and plan on reading the rest of the book series

Janette Oke's novels were the first romance fiction I ever read. I read them in middle school once I had exhausted my own library of books and decided to raid my mom's and my older sister's. I first read the Love Comes Softly Series (my favorite), then the Season's of the Heart series (which I did not like), and the Canadian West (which falls somewhere in the middle). This is without a doubt the best book in the Canadian West series. Elizabeth Thatcher is described by her mother as being a "sensible school teacher" in a letter to her brother, which she no doubt is. But, she is also funny, resourceful, kind, independent, inquisitive, observant and emotionally stable. Elizabeth is unique for her time period because she's not interested in getting married which is a big part of her character-until she meets a guy who is also not interested in getting married. They enter a kind of will they/won't they relationship that is hindered by misunderstanding and long distance. I have 2 criticisms of this book. **Spoilers** First, Janette Oke does not give a compelling reason why Elizabeth originally leaves for the west. If it was for the reasons we are told, it is made very clear that her mother would not be happy with the situation Elizabeth ends up in, and she and her brother even decide not to tell her. The shenanigans which ensue make for good storytelling, but leave a gaping hole in the original motivation. Secondly and more importantly, we don't get to see what Wynn Delany is thinking and why he likes Elizabeth. I can only surmise that he mainly likes that she's pretty because her independence and capability seem completely lost on him in the second book where we actually get scenes from his perspective. However, if you look at this book alone, Wynn's motivations are quite mysterious. The only thing we know clearly is that he does not want to get married, which is told to us several times by Elizabeth's sister-on-law, Mary and by Wynn. How Wynn's character arc ends up occurring, we are not told. Anyway, these criticisms are nitpicking because the book is decent and depicts a strong independent woman for the time. However, I don't recommend continuing with the series as this strong woman disappears in the next book.

This has been the best book I’ve read in years!!!Thank you for such a wonderful story! I loved going along with Elizabeth & hope there are more stories about her!Barbara

Great book, nice to have decent books to read. Big fan of the TV show. Makes you want to be there, with those great folks.

Reading this delightful story for the second time , and it is more amazing than ever. All those little things so carefully placed within that make it a treasure. Touching, inspirational, surprising, and full of fun moments. Sweetly romantic without becoming sappy. Perfection!

Jane Austen has nothing on Janette Oke! Wow! This was a great book. I struggled between wanting to finish it because I wanted to know the ending and wanting to wait to finish it because I didn't want it to end. Fortunately, it is the first in a series. It had humor, romance, suspense, and a wide array of emotions. The Christian message was clearly portrayed. The characters were so likeable and a great sense of community was established. It is difficult to have so man characters in a novel and have them all be dynamic and interesting, but the author pulled it off expertly. Yes, there were a few typos, but that is the only flaw in this wonderful novel and did not at all detract from the story. I really cannot recommend this book highly enough! I do not even want to watch the TV version because I predict that they will change much of the story and completely ruin it. Read the book instead!

I recently watched season 1 on CBC and enjoyed the show enough to purchase the DVD for season 2 since I didn't want to wait a year to see the next season and I was curious about the drastic change in tone and look from season 1 after reading the various comments here. One thing I noticed is that, although the show features a Mountie and is set in the Canadian West, I don't think the word "Canada" has been uttered once. Neither has any city like Calgary or Vancouver so that the audience can figure out where Hope Valley may be and how long it takes to travel to this fictional city of "Hamilton". Really? Do the producers think that Americans won't watch a television show that is set outside of their own country? I thought we were beyond such nonsense. Have they heard of Downton Abbey, Heartland or Murdoch Mysteries? There has been mention in the show of American cities, American inventions, an American president, a lawyer appointed by the "State" (yikes), and American slang such as "Ma" and "Pa". It's like they want to completely obliterate where the show is actually set. I think setting the show in this mythical land of "nowhere" does a disservice to viewers. In any event, the cast continues to do a wonderful job with the mediocre scripts they are given. I do miss a lot of the characters from the first season. If they intend to continue to show Elizabeth's family, then they really need to flesh out those characters more in season 3. I think Elizabeth's aunt may turn out to be a kindred spirit based on what we've seen of her so far. Her elder sister is too one-dimensional to be believed. The period clothing is beautiful, however I agree with other reviewers who state that the hairstyles in season 2 are totally inaccurate. With a few exceptions, they do look present day. There is no way women would have worn their hair down in daily life like that. What are the producers thinking? Photographs of 1910 fashion are easily available to work from. It's like they just don't care. Here's hoping that season 3 shows more historical accuracy with better scripts.

Great

A lovely story, hence my review title. Looking forward to book two. Can really recommend Janet Oakes books. Thank you.

I loved this story about a young school teacher who leaves the comforts of her home in eastern Canada to teach in a small town out west.The book transported me back to a simpler time. The townsfolk characters were endearing and the touch of romance, so sweet.I look forward to reading the whole series.

Il libro è molto diverso dalla serie tv. Non è brutto, mi è piaciuto molto. Adoro elizabeth e gli altri personaggi.

He mirado esta serie desde el primer episodio hasta el octavo.Es una serie muy encantadora y los personajes y la intriga sonsumamente interesantes. Cuando la miraba de noche, me costaba irme a dormir.Como serie la recomiendo. El bemol es que solamente se da la version en inglés...