Love Never Fails

September 22, 2014
Rogers has written much historical fiction (the Winds Across the Prairie series), and continues drawing from life in the late 19th century with her third Homeward Journey novel, set in the post–Civil War era. In Stoney Creek, Tex., Molly Whiteman looks forward to a visit from Clarissa Elliot, her Louisiana friend. Clarissa’s brother, Stefan Elliot, arrives as well, and Molly is immediately attracted to the handsome cavalry officer. Stefan is drawn to Molly, but the pair have just two weeks before the Elliots return home and Stefan returns to Fort Apache in Arizona. Even greater than the distance between them is Molly’s loathing of guns and fighting, and Stefan’s desire to make the military his career. When Stefan is injured, they depend on God to work miracles and help them find a way to be together. While perfectly serviceable, Rogers’s novel lacks the lyrical writing that would make it sing. Readers will miss the expressive writing of other books in the genre.