Love Comes Softly

Love Takes Wing (1x7)

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Janette Oke’s tales of Christian pioneer romance continue with Love Takes Wing. Belinda Simpson (Sarah Jones, Big Love), struggling to recover from the loss of her husband and her faith, comes to a small Missouri town to become the local doctor. Her reception is cold--the locals are surprised to find that she’s a woman--and she’s immediately faced with a tough challenge in the form of an infection that is spreading through the town that has everyone frightened and eager to blame the local orphanage as the source. With the help of her best friend, Annie (Haylie Duff, 7th Heaven), and the town’s handsome young blacksmith (Jordan Bridges), Belinda fights to find a cure--and to open her heart to love and the Lord. The fight with illness makes Love Takes Wing one of the most dramatically successful stories of the Love Comes Softly series; in fact, both romance and religion are relatively downplayed in favor of the medical mystery. If anything, the movie’s dramatic heart is the relationship between Belinda and a feisty young orphan girl (Annalise Basso) in whom Belinda sees a younger version of herself. A strong supporting cast, including Patrick Duffy, Lou Diamond Phillips (who also directed), and the ever-dependable Cloris Leachman, lends acting heft. Fans of the series will find Love Takes Wing a solid addition, and newcomers seeking wholesome pioneer tales can enjoy it without any experience of the previous films. --Bret Fetzer