When Comes the Spring

When Comes the Spring
(Canadian West #2)
By: Janette Oke
Rating: 5 Stars
Ages: 12 and up (for mild romance and mildly dangerous situations)

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?

I recently posted a review of When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke. Well, not too long ago, I also read the second book in the Canadian West series - When Comes the Spring. And, I enjoyed it even more than the first book! My thoughts:

When Comes the Spring was undoubtedly fun! I love Elizabeth and Wynn, and I loved reading about their struggles settling into life in the far north - with no modern conveniences.

This book really gave me a deeper look into the life of a Canadian Mountie. A Mountie's life was extremely difficult most of the time.
Wynn was home late in the evenings most days, and, during winter, would have to leave for days at a time to travel to a far off cabin to check on a trapper. A Mountie was the law, doctor, dispute-settler, and overall caretaker of the entire village where he was stationed.  I see now why Wynn was so adamant that an elegant lady from the East couldn't live in the North.

But Elizabeth did prove him wrong on that account! She was very strong and determined throughout the entire book. She went to a village where she knew no one, and could converse with approximately about five people, including Wynn - one of those being a sweet, young Indian woman named Nimmie (the wife of the man who runs the trading post), the others being Nimmie's husband, Mr. Ian McClain, Ian's bitter, impolite younger sister, Miss Katherine McClain, and another Indian woman.

Elizabeth handled everything that the North had to throw her way with dignity and grace - and she never complained. Even when Wynn had to leave in the middle of a snowstorm and she was left alone, excepting her dog, Kip.

Overall, When Comes the Spring gave me a deeper knowledge of what a Mountie's life really looks like, the bitter winters of the North, the Indians that live there, and what it would be like to live the life of a Royal Canadian Mountie's wife, and was also exciting, charming, and enjoyable.

It was a fantastic story set in a backdrop of rugged north Canada - with its rough terrain, high mountains, long winters, short summers, annoying mosquitoes, and charm - with wonderful, memorable characters. I would recommend to readers who love historical fiction.