In the latest Love series installment, two years have passed since the tragic death of Missie's husband Willie. Missie is forced to move back to her father's ranch in Tettsford Junction and ends up adopting a teenage orphan girl who tests her faith and strength. Missie is compelled to defend the girl's orphan brother who is being mistreated by his adoptive family all the while fighting her own feelings of love for the town sheriff.

Cynics beware! From the first sweeping chords of the soundtrack, it's clear that Love's Unending Legacy will continue Janette Oke's heartfelt tales of love, pluck, and Christian faith in the days of pioneers. Missy LaHaye (Erin Cottrell, repeating the role from Love's Long Journey and Love's Abiding Joy) comes back to her father and stepmother after the death of her husband, only to find herself adopting a teenage girl named Elinda and sparring verbally with the town's handsome young sheriff. Missy can't understand Elinda's rebellious ways until she discovers why the girl has been smuggling food to a boy at a nearby farm. Fans of the Love series (which began with Love Comes Softly) will be untroubled by the movie's modern notions of childhood (to say nothing of some very modern necklines) and the supernatural cleanliness of this frontier town; period realism matters less than a sincere portrayal of Christian values. (Some viewers, however, may feel that the movie's earnestness curdles into mawkishness.) Also featuring staunch Dale Midkiff, who's played Missy's staunch father Clark Davis in all five of the Love movies to date. --Bret Fetzer