The Virgin River Series

Robyn Carr has written three great books in her Virgin River series. They are Virgin River, Shelter Mountain, and Whispering Rock. Can you read one with out the other? Yes, however they are very interconnected, and I think you will grow to like these characters and town so much that you will want to read them all.

Carr sets her story in a small town in Northern California's mountain regions. It is a place of refuge for her characters but this town is not perfectville. She starts in the first book Virgin River with the story of Melinda and Jack. Melinda is a midwife-nurse practitioner who is looking to start over. She is drawn there by an ad placed by one of the town supporters. She finds that the ad is a bit deceiving. The current doctor is unaware that she is coming, and the rent-free cabin that was promised is a mess. But she finds she is drawn to the patients that need her expertise. And she is drawn to Jack, an ex Marine who runs the local watering hole and food establishment. Jack falls hard but soon realizes that Mel has secrets of her own.

(I should interject that these books go into great detail about "birthing babies" both good stories and unfortunately bad. If this is something that you can not handle - you might want to pass on this series. Having had an obstetrics nurse for a mother - I did not have a problem with it. All these scenes are handled with with great care, but may not be for you.)

Shelter Mountain is the story of Preacher and Paige. He is the somewhat scary looking, but shy, ex Marine who is Jack's business partner and chef. She arrives in Virgin River with her son in tow, trying to escape her abusive husband. Their story of learning to trust each other is great.

Whispering Rock features the story of Mike and Brie who is Jack's little sister. Mike is Jack's Marine buddy who was shot up in his job as a LA cop. He's been recovering from his injuries in Virgin River while Brie has a traumatic life event to recover from as well.

These stories have wonderful characters who are trying to get over some of the lumps in life that have been delt to them. But Carr makes these characters very real. They are not perfect, they make mistakes, have setbacks and continue on and their stories continue throughout the series. She puts some of them in very trying positions. Sometimes the reader is a bit taken aback - maybe you don't want to go down that road - but go. She writes so well that you feel she will take care of you and the characters on the journey. And she writes with humor and grace.

I have not felt this gushy over a contemporary romance series in a while. I was bit surprised myself that I like these as well as I did. They aren't what I would usually pick for myself. So try 'em - maybe you will love them too. A great read.