Eighteen books was supposed to finish the series, but Netflix came to town. Two TV series later and with approval for a third, we RETURN TO VIRGIN RIVER for a friendly lead up to Christmas. ‘Virgin River’, in case you haven’t heard, is a Humboldt County town surrounded by mountains and redwood trees, with one bar which now serves as the broadband hub.
Kaylee Sloan’s mourning her late mom, and she’s stuck in her grief, which is stopping her from writing her next suspense story. She leaves her home in Southern California and heads to a borrowed cabin in the mountains. But life can’t leave her alone, and she’s obliged to rent a smaller cabin next door to a single artist, Landry Moore, who is her landlord. While she taps out a story on her laptop, she gets to know locals at Jack’s Bar and finds herself obliged to confront her debilitating fear of dogs. She’d rather not, but Landry is a part-time dog trainer as well as a sculptor. There are dogs.
My introduction to this series of books (I have not seen the TV) was Redwood Bend. In that book, a lone parent had a car breakdown as her little family was travelling near Virgin River, and she was aided by a bunch of bikers. I preferred that story to the present one. I felt it was dynamic and the main female character was concerned about her children. Some readers will be content with a character who mostly sits down and thinks about her own concerns all the time. I presume to suggest, however, that these will be readers who have enjoyed all the previous wonderful stories and now are happy just to wander around the town once more, visit with their old friends, and catch up with all the chat. We meet the main characters from the earliest books, probably because they feature in the TV story, which has been adapted to a shape that fits the new medium. There’s nothing wrong with this situation, as long as readers understand this is what they are getting.
A gradual healing, a reawakening and shrugging off of burdens, a setback or two to overcome. That’s a pretty nice story about new and familiar characters, a way to relax over Christmas. Surround yourself with redwoods, Jack’s Bar, and a dog trainer in RETURN TO VIRGIN RIVER. After the close, we get a few pages from the author Robyn Carr who tells of the heartfelt experience of walking onto the built sets of her own books. Every author can only dream of such joy. Don’t forget, you can always move on to some of her other romance series, my favourite being ‘Thunder Point’.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr returns to the beloved town of Virgin River with a brand-new story about fresh starts, new friends and the magic of Christmas.
Kaylee Sloan’s home in Southern California is full of wonderful memories of the woman who raised her. But the memories are prolonging her grief over her mother’s recent death. A successful author, Kaylee hoped she could pour herself into her work. Instead she has terrible writer’s block and a looming deadline.
Determined to escape distractions and avoid the holiday season, Kaylee borrows a cabin in Virgin River. She knows the isolation will help her writing, and as she drives north through the mountains and the majestic redwoods, she immediately feels inspired. Until she arrives at a building that has just gone up in flames. Devastated, she heads to Jack’s Bar to plan her next steps. The local watering hole is the heart of the town, and once she crosses the threshold, she’s surprised to be embraced by people who are more than willing to help a friend—or a stranger—in need.
Kaylee’s world is expanding in ways she never dreamed possible. And when she rescues a kitten followed by a dog with a litter of puppies, she finds her heart opening up to the animals who need her. And then there’s the dog trainer who knows exactly how to help her. As the holidays approach, Kaylee’s dread turns to wonder. Because there’s no better place to spend Christmas than Virgin River.
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