Virgin River

This was the first book from Robyn Carr that I have read. It was not bad. I found some of the writing to jump all over the place, sometimes not knowing who was speaking or from whose point of view, but I got used it to it by the middle of the book, either that or it stopped jumping around. The plot was pretty good, though a bit convoluted. One time I think it is just about the doctor and her move to the small town then I think perhaps there is a bigger plot trying to work its way into the story. Nearing the end of the book I was losing interest, which I always find a shame, but I will give the second book a chance.

Great read

Interesting start of the series. Good characters.

Wow! What an amazing book! These people feel real - and I'd love to meet them! This writer has the power of description, dialogue, and plot. Nothing was jarring about the writing - I lost myself in the story. Thank you, I can't wait to read another!

Virgin River by Robyn Carr captured my attention from the very beginning. It shows what life is like up the small mountain town of Virgin River which has about six hundred residents. Melinda Monroe is feeling burnout from her position at a 3,000 bed hospital and is looking for a change. The position in Virgin River seems to be what she needs, and it is confirmed after seeing the pictures sent to her by Hope McCrea. The icing on the cake is the charming cabin that comes with position. Mel packs expensive jeans ($100 plus per pair) along with her beautiful leather boots into her BMW and heads into the mountains. Mel soon discovers that Hope’s pictures were not current and her clothing choices not to mention her car are not appropriate for the environment. Mel decides that Virgin River is not for her. Then a newborn is found on the local doctor’s front porch. This has Mel changing her plans which she claims is just temporary. Mel fails to tell the people in her new town that she is a widow and another reason she needed a fresh start. I liked the variety of quirky characters in Virgin River that include Preacher (the cook at Jack’s), Hope McCrea, and Doc Mullins (crotchety local doctor with a heart of gold). Jack Sheridan is an ex-marine who owns Jack’s the local bar and restaurant. He is taken with Mel right away and comes up with a plan to keep her in their little town. I thought the characters as well as the situations were realistic and developed. I enjoyed the rustic setting. While Virgin River is a charming romance novel, there are other storylines going on in the book. There are numerous places to hide in the wood surrounding the town which leads to criminal activity as well as people looking to hide out or escape from the world. I like that the author shows the good and the bad (everything is not puppy dogs and rainbows). I could have done without the foul language and intimate situations (but that is my personal preference). Virgin River is a well-written novel that moved along steadily. Virgin River is the first in A Virgin River Novel and there are currently twenty in total. I am curious to see what happens to the other characters. Virgin River is a pleasing story with a loveable newborn, a handsome ex-marine, a peevish physician, an optimistic Hope, and a woman looking for a new beginning.

Melinda Monroe flees the big city to work as a nurse practitioner and midwife in rural Virgin River. It's not at all what she expected and she's ready to leave when a newborn baby is left on her doorstep. Handsome ex-Marine Jack Sheridan runs the bar and local eatery and he also gives her some reasons to stay.I've read some Robyn Carr, though not this series, so when I saw a deal on the book and that it was being made a Netflix series, I grabbed it. It's not a bad book, more of an introduction to people in the series. Jack and Mel are a great couple with interesting backstories. It's a quick read, somewhat predictable, but okay.

awesome trilogies by Robin Carr. great getaway reads

This one didn't seem to match the rest of the series.

I didn't find Promise Canyon to be one of the stronger books in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series, but it was still a pretty good read that had several positive points. Probably the first and foremost of those would be that both main characters were Native American. I think this is the first romance I've read in which that was the case. The hero is a bit more traditional with strong roots in the Native American community, while the heroine hasn't even visited the reservation in years, and in many ways, has tried to distance herself from her background. It all gave the story a slightly different flavor than the other books in the series thus far.Clay is one seriously hot and sexy hero. He has classic Native American good looks: bronze skin, a sculpted body from working with horses all day, and long, raven black hair that falls past his waist. Yum!;-) He's kind of a jack of all trades when it comes to horses. He's a vet tech, a farrier, and he trains them. Clay has a very special connection with the horses in which he can sort of communicate with them psychically. I loved his relationship with the problem horse, Streak, and how he gently coaxed the nervous stallion into a trusting bond. He definitely has a way with the animals. One of the things I liked most about Clay is how he stepped up to the plate and didn't shirk his responsibilities as a father. Even though he was only seventeen when his son was born, he actually wanted to be a father to the baby. He fought for and won that right from the mother and her family who were ready to give the child up for adoption. He was a very involved dad for the first eleven years of his son's life. Even after that, when he went out on the rodeo circuit and later to live in California, he always kept in touch with his son and went back to the reservation to visit him often or brought the boy to visit him. Now, he wants nothing more than to finally live with his son in the same place. I think this side of him went a long way in convincing Lilly that he was a good guy in spite of her past experience with another Navajo man. Clay ends up coaxing Lilly into a relationship much the same way he does with the horses, slowly and gently, while refusing to take no for an answer. He's just an all-around scrumptious guy.Lilly cares very much about animals, so much so that she's a vegan. I love how she took time out of her busy day to save a horse's life, then build a bond with the abandoned animal. Much like Clay she has a way with horses and a special connection that draws them to her. After getting pregnant in her early teens by a young Navajo man who was several years older, Lilly is pretty gun-shy around Native men. She is also a stubbornly independent woman who has been trying to distance herself from her Native roots, and the traditional paternalistic culture. Despite her distrust of, and other issues with, Native men, she can't deny that she finds Clay attractive from the moment they meet. While I could appreciate that Lilly was afraid to get involved with Clay because of what happened with the Navajo boy from her past and because of her independent streak, I wish her reasons had been brought out a little more prominently. I just felt that her reluctance didn't have quite the depth of feeling that it should have. She essentially comes off as a bit immature, simply stubborn and holding on to the pain of the past, which ended up being the main reason that was revealed anyway. I'm so glad that her gay best friend, Dane, finally gave her a metaphorical slap in the face and some tough love (I was totally cheering him on:-)), otherwise, I'm not sure she ever would have given Clay a chance to explain what happened with his ex. Overall, Lilly was a nice heroine, but maybe not as much of a standout as other heroines in the series.I was somewhat disappointed in the relationship development between Clay and Lilly which is the main reason I knocked off a star. There just wasn't much in the way of getting-to-know-you or romantic moments between them before they fell into bed together. Prior to that they shared an obvious physical attraction for one another, but their interactions seemed mostly superficial. This made their instant trip to the bedroom the first time they were truly alone together feel a little too rushed. That first love scene, the only moderately detailed one in the book, was nice, but it would have been even nicer if I had felt more of a connection between them. Even after that, they don't do a whole lot together to really build the romance before things started falling apart when Clay's ex-wife showed up unexpectedly. The setup for the conflict was another weak link. IMHO, Clay didn't really have much of a reason for not telling Lilly that his ex-wife was visiting. Since he knew that Lilly was going to be delivering feed the next day and might run into the ex, you'd think he would want to warn her and maybe do a little preventative damage control, but of course, he doesn't which leads to a major misunderstanding. If he'd simply been more truthful and forthcoming, things probably never would have escalated to the point that they did, but for her part, Lilly should have allowed him to explain instead of locking herself away and refusing to even speak to him. It made her seem like the immature young girl she'd been all those years ago when her heart was broken. Not to mention, she seemed to be unfairly painting Clay with the same brush as the love who cheated on her and abandoned her when she needed him most.As with all the Virgin River books, Promise Canyon has plenty of secondary characters, some of whom get their own POV scenes and sub-plots. First, the town says a sad good-bye to a character who's been there since the beginning. This leaves Jack with a big responsibility he didn't ask for and half the town mad at him for not doing what they want. As always, Jack is the backbone of Virgin River and has the town's best interests at heart. Also, most of the main characters from past books rally around to get matters in order and hold an estate sale. A group of four women show up in Virgin River for a brief sojourn at Luke's cabins. Two of the women, Jillian and Kelly, are sisters who seem to be taking a liking to the area, but both currently have high powered jobs in San Francisco. Each of them will return as the main heroines in their own book, Kelly in Harvest Moon, and Jillian in the next book Wild Man Creek, paired with Colin, one of only two remaining Riordan boys still standing. The Riordan brothers band together to help Colin in this book after he's involved in a serious helicopter crash that leaves him pretty banged up. He's very surly about it and also gets himself hooked on pain killers. I have a feeling he'll be coming to Virgin River to rest and recuperate from all the drama. Nathaniel and Annie (“Under the Christmas Tree” from That Holiday Feeling) appear too. Nathaniel hires Clay to work for him in his vet clinic and horse boarding/training business, while Annie pairs up with Lilly to start a trail riding program for young girls in the area. Last but not least, a new young man named Denny shows up in town after being discharged from the Marines, following a stint in Afghanistan. He's looking for his long, lost father, but so far, he's just feeling out the waters and not saying who it is. I have a sneaking suspicion I know who and will be looking forward to that reveal. In the meantime, he's befriended Jack and will be staying on long enough to get his own book, Bring Me Home for Christmas. There are times when I wish Robyn Carr would dig into her characters a little deeper, and Promise Canyon was one of those books. It had some great characters, but I didn't feel like I got to know them as well as I would have liked. She engages in quite a bit of omniscient narration which results in more telling than showing. Instead of this, I'd really like to see her get into the meat of her characters and allow the reader to be an active part of their lives. I've felt this more with some of her other books, but not as much with this one. It was still a pretty good read, but IMO it could have been better. I've been trying to finish the Virgin River series while staying up to date on her new Thunder Point series at the same time. Maybe I've just been reading a few too many of Ms. Carr's books too close together and need to put more space in between them, so I can appreciate them better when I do pick one up. Or maybe, it's just that she's come to a point in both series, where the ideas aren't flowing quite as freely, and therefore, the books aren't quite as polished. I suppose only time will tell as I continue to read both.

Another good book in this series. Full of action with new and old characters invoking a range of emotions. Clay comes to Virgin River with his gift for gentling horses to work with veterinary friend and meets fellow Native American Lilly.

A cute and well written romantic story with great and lovely characters. It is about moving on with your life after a tragedy. It left me depressed in the end. Don't worry, that's just me.
I mean, Mel comes to a place of only a few hundred people and finds someone like Jack! I know I should accept it because it is that type of story, but it annoyed me. Again, that's just me.
Anyone who likes reading contemporary romance in a really small town setting (where I doubt you could find someone like Jack) may like this book.

Robyn's Carr Virgin River series is one of the things that I like to read when I'm felling blue. Sitting comfortably while drinking a hot cup of coffee, reading about small towns and its appeal, about people having second chances, fall in and out of love. Imagining the scenery, the river and the fisherman, the smell of forest and hope, of freedom...of gathering and family. Feeling at home in Virgin River.For me it's a 5 stars.

I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but this wasn't it. I think there's something about getting rid of everything and moving somewhere for something drastically different. The ultimate do-over. And it was so great having her start it out with not being all it was cracked up to be. She slows down. Finds a different side of herself. Finds satisfaction in a simpler lifestyle, but certainly not a simpler life. It resonated. I won't be moving to any back woods place any time soon, but it was a great reminder that we none of us are stuck where we are. We can reinvent at anytime by adding or subtracting things from our lives.

I am late to the Virgin River series. I have been aware of its existence for years but never took the plunge.

It is a sweet story, well written but nothing new.

Maybe if I had read it when it first came out it would have been fresh, but reading it in 2013 it has a feel of same old same old.

The heroine is cute and spunky with a tragic past who makes a bold move to change her life. The hero is devastatingly good looking, brawny and a wonderful guy, adored even by his younger sisters. Never has he felt the need to settle down, until, of course, he lays eyes on our spunky --and apparently gorgeous -- heroine.

Had I been reading this, I probably would have put it down, never to pick it up again. I did listen to it, though, and the narrator kept me in the story (that and the fact I was doing heavy-duty cleaning and was using it to stave off boredom).
Therese Plummer is a new-to-me narrator who did a beautiful job. I do see myself getting other books in this series if she narrates.

Nice but not great. I liked Jack more than Mel, even thought he was too good to be real. The story was lacking in relationship - buildnig.

Pretty good read, but there were some things that irritated me a little bit. Such as the lack of a real conflict in the story or that nothing really seems to happen in this little town. There are some author who are masters in creating a universe so freaking cool in little towns that you just get really immersed in the plot. Liked the characters and their chemistry together was good, but sometimes it felt a little off for me. Some events in the end seemed a little bit rushed and there were not a lot of connections between the 'situations' that appeared from time to time in the plot.

A recent widow, Mel has decided she needs a drastic change to get on with her life. She is a midwife and a nurse practitioner, and takes a job in a small woodland community as an assistant to a doctor. Once she gets there, she finds that what she was led to believe was not at all the reality she came face to face with. She had intended to leave the next day for her sister’s home and regroup there, but one day turns into two, and then a week, and then longer. She becomes enmeshed in the lives of the people she meets, and especially with Jack. It’s a cute story, a somewhat steamy romance, but it goes off on tangents, including really rough backwoods characters and illegal and dangerous drug dealers and marijuana growers. Not sure what the author intended, but the combination of these two storylines was a bit strange. Mel should have been a strong character, but she kept breaking down into emotional puddles. Jack’s character also was not well defined.

 Cheesy but sweet, this book follows a very predictable plot of big city girl (Mel) heads to a tiny town to be its midwife and falls in love. Add in some grief because she is a young widow and you’ve got the story. I liked the supporting cast members, the cook/fellow ex-marine at the restaurant, the old curmudgeon doctor, the new friends she makes in the community, etc. Definitely entertaining though I don’t think I’ll continue the series.

I'm glad I started this series. I like reading about small-town life, especially one set in beautiful mountain country; it's nice to visit places through books. It was interesting reading about all the challenges about living in this kind of place too—Carr doesn't show all good or all bad and I appreciated that. I'll be continuing with this series.

Virgin River is a sweet story about (very) small town living and a second chance at love. It was nice again to see a widow who didn't have a horrible marriage the first time around (perhaps that's more of a historical romance plot device than contemporary?) though her realization at the end that she'd never felt the things before that she'd felt with Jack...I don't know. Can't a person just have two wonderful loves in their lifetime without having to compare? This one is better than that one because...? But perhaps that's just my personal bias. It is fiction, after all. But I digress....

Overall, it was a satisfying story with a wealth of interesting characters that Carr will clearly be drawing on for future books in the series. There were a few little odd quirks--the way internal conversation/thoughts of characters are written seems awkward--but on the whole I liked the author's writing style. One part that did bother me quite a bit, though, is that two characters who definitely knew better--a nurse practitioner/midwife and a guy who just a few chapters before gave his teenaged employee the if-you're-gonna-do-it-use-a-condom-every-time speech--had unprotected sex over and over again. Since when is "Don't worry, I'll take care of the birth control, honey" acceptable and responsible behavior? All well that ends well, and all that, but honestly. It really didn't make much sense. I even scanned through their first time again, thinking maybe I missed that crucial bit or that it just hadn't been written in. No such luck. Ah, well. Still, I hope to return to Virgin River again soon, to find out what else is in store for the rest of the characters.

First in the series about Virgin River, California. Mel takes an NP job, trying to escape from the pressures of LA & her husband's murder, never believing she'd like country medicine and would fall in love again with an ex-marine who owns the local bar & grill; getting pregnant & getting married

Me, a widow, accepts a job as midwife in Virgin River as a midwife, and it's nothing like she expected. But she learns to love the place and Jack as well. Romance, sex and babies!

I am late to the Virgin River series. I have been aware of its existence for years but never took the plunge.

It is a sweet story, well written but nothing new.

Maybe if I had read it when it first came out it would have been fresh, but reading it in 2013 it has a feel of same old same old.

The heroine is cute and spunky with a tragic past who makes a bold move to change her life. The hero is devastatingly good looking, brawny and a wonderful guy, adored even by his younger sisters. Never has he felt the need to settle down, until, of course, he lays eyes on our spunky --and apparently gorgeous -- heroine.

Had I been reading this, I probably would have put it down, never to pick it up again. I did listen to it, though, and the narrator kept me in the story (that and the fact I was doing heavy-duty cleaning and was using it to stave off boredom).
Therese Plummer is a new-to-me narrator who did a beautiful job. I do see myself getting other books in this series if she narrates.

Pretty boring, not much conflict that didn't seem contrived. I liked the interaction between the townspeople and Mel... but not enough to read more in the series.

I am late to the Virgin River series. I have been aware of its existence for years but never took the plunge.

It is a sweet story, well written but nothing new.

Maybe if I had read it when it first came out it would have been fresh, but reading it in 2013 it has a feel of same old same old.

The heroine is cute and spunky with a tragic past who makes a bold move to change her life. The hero is devastatingly good looking, brawny and a wonderful guy, adored even by his younger sisters. Never has he felt the need to settle down, until, of course, he lays eyes on our spunky --and apparently gorgeous -- heroine.

Had I been reading this, I probably would have put it down, never to pick it up again. I did listen to it, though, and the narrator kept me in the story (that and the fact I was doing heavy-duty cleaning and was using it to stave off boredom).
Therese Plummer is a new-to-me narrator who did a beautiful job. I do see myself getting other books in this series if she narrates.

I finally took the plunge into the world of audiobooks! This was my first, and it was very enjoyable - both the story and narration. I've heard so many wonderful things about the Virgin River series. Aren't there 20 books now? I decided to start from the beginning.VIRGIN RIVER is a bittersweet story about dealing with the pain of loss and learning to love again. The whole cast of characters was well-drawn and easy to get to know, and their home was amazing! Virgin River is a remote town of a few small buildings surrounded by giant redwoods, winding mountain roads, and the pristine river filled with fish.It was all those wonderful things that drew griving widow Melinda (Mel) Monroe to Virgin River. It seemed like the perfect escape, but once she got there, Mel realized that small town life wasn't as simple and trouble-free as she thought. Mel was a likable character, hurting but strong, and devoted to her career as a nurse practitioner and midwife. For me the highlight of VIRGIN RIVER was Jack Sheridan. (He wins best book boyfriend of the year hands down!) He's an ex-marine with alpha-male tendencies, very protective of the people he loves. He's also about the kindest, most generous man you could meet. He was so patient and understanding with Melinda as she came to terms with her husband's death. I really enjoyed Therese Plummer's narration of this book. Because this was my first audiobook, it took me a while to get used to the different character voices, especially the male characters. Once I got into the grove of things, I appreciated the emotions Ms. Plummer added to the characters' voices.I would highly recommend VIRGIN RIVER to lovers of contemporary romance.

The setting is idyllic, the characters appealing -- a lot to like. But over-the-top emoting, excessive emphasis on sex & romance, and a male lead whose selfless considerateness is rather unbelievable make the story almost laughable at times.

What a great book! Loved Jack and how sweet he was with Mel.

Robyn Carr writes like a poor man's LaVyrle Spencer. Mel Monroe has had tragedy in her life, and decides to quite LA and the chaos there and move somewhere entirely different. She finds Virgin River, not even a town, a collection of 600 or so souls around some beautiful landscape. She's a nurse midwife and loves to deliver babies. We meet some simple country folk and the far too perfect Jack Sheridan. He really is wonderful and I stayed till the end for him, but the book is overwritten and doesn't have the charm that Spencer manages. It's a warm hearted book, not bad to spend time with, but no keeper.

Recently read this book based on a message board recommendation & loved it! It was a great comtemporary AND realistic romance story. Can't wait to dive into book 2 of the series.