Just Finished:
Synopsis: Wanted: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against the backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal-clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included.

When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to reenergize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she's made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning.

But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans…and a former marine cements them into place.

Melinda Monroe may have come to Virgin River looking for escape, but instead she finds her home.

My Thoughts: I love a book that makes me feel everything. Something that just pulls you in and doesn’t let go. That’s what Virgin River does. The book starts out slow, but after the first few chapters, it’s hard to put down.

I loved the fact that Jack and Mel had a bona fide friendship ~ that he was her first real friend in Virgin River. I appreciated that their relationship was built slowly off of that foundation; because Mel had a lot of healing to do, and I’m glad she had a friend like Jack who was there for her through it all.

Then the friendship changed. I loved Jack and Mel’s first kiss. It was romantic, passionate, and everything I as a romance reader would want in a good book. And that was the turning point for me. Although I loved the book up to that point, from there on I could not put the book down. Their’s was truly a love story.

Then there were the side characters ~ a whole town full of them. Doc, Lilly, Preacher, Rick, June, Jim, Susan, and John. Quite an assembly of folks who took Mel into their lives and called her a friend. How fitting it was that Doc was the first person she met before getting to Virgin River. I love that crusty old man. The friendship Mel & Jack formed with June & Jim and Susan & John make me want to rush right out and read about the Grace Valley women and the men who love them. I want to read their stories. And Preacher. The man who screams like a girl ~ I love him, too. I want to live there.

Verdict: This was Very Good. I am really looking forward to reading Preacher’s story, Shelter Mountain, and am now on a quest to find the Grace Valley series as well.

Labels: Contemporary Romance, Robyn Carr, Very Good