Blaine Pate

In this Janette Oke sequel to "Love Comes Softly," the eldest child in an 1800s frontier family, Missie Davis is a bright and beautiful elementary schoolteacher whose love for the prairie is matched only by her passion for books. When Missie encounters Grant, a handsome New England railroad executive, she feels as though she's met a hero from one of her novels.

After standing in as best man for his longtime friend Carl Petersen, Randy Dupree loses his job, becomes a barfly and attaches himself to the newlywed couple almost permanently -- as their houseguest. But the longer Dupree camps out on their couch, the closer he gets to Carl's bride, Molly, leaving the frustrated groom wondering when his pal will be moving out.

The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.