My introduction to Robyn Carr was with her Virgin River series, and I followed her to Thunder Bay and a standalone. Now I’m catching up to her in a new series set in Grace Valley, California. While I don’t claim to have read every book, there’s a lot of fun to be had from going back and filling in gaps.
JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN is the second in this setting, and we follow the busy Dr. June Hudson. Along with her work partner, Dr. John Stone, she operates the sole clinic and sends serious cases to the hospital. Her skills are called upon several times, but sadly, some people ignore her medical advice. June is caught between two men in this instance, which isn’t so much a romance as an ongoing look at life and love in a small town. June has been seeing an undercover DEA agent, Jim Post, when he is between cases, keeping it confidential. All of a sudden, her former high school sweetheart, Chris Forrest, returns to Grace Valley, and word is he’s divorced the other high school girlfriend he left with. He’s also the proud father of twin teenage boys, Brad and Brent. They’re a handful.
I really hoped, as I read, that June would not get back with Chris. He patronisingly calls her by her old nickname and assumes she will be delighted to see him, since she’s not married. Sometimes these stories see old flames reigniting when everyone has matured. On the other hand, an occasional night visit by a man who can’t even phone her isn’t much of a relationship.
Other storylines include human bones turning up in June’s aunt Myrna's backyard, buried under a bush. The eccentric lady – the polite term for a hoarder, because she has money and a writing career – hasn’t seen her husband Morton Claypool for a couple of decades. Oops. Twists from the first story in this series include Jurea Mull, who had reconstructive surgery, having a setback, and the arrival of a new Pastor, Harry Shipton. All the comings and goings add up and are supervised by Sheriff Tom Toopeek. This is pretty much a soap opera of a story, as opposed to focusing on one lady and her romances. But we see that Dr. June is an integral part of the town, and what affects others also affects her.
JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN might be written with another TV series in mind, as Virgin River is so popular. Catch the books before the series gets too far ahead, so you know who all the characters are. Life is lively in Grace Valley, and sometimes dangerous, too.
Welcome back to Grace Valley, California, where the best things in life never change…Here in this peaceful community, folks look out for one another like family, though sometimes a little too well. In a town like this, it\'s hard to keep a secret—but Dr. June Hudson has managed to keep one heck of a humdinger.…Though visits from her secret lover, undercover DEA agent Jim Post, are as clandestine as they are passionate, somehow it fits with her demanding schedule as the town\'s doctor—a calling that requires an innate ability to exist on caffeine, sticky buns and nerves of steel.But how can a secret lover compete with a flesh-and-blood heartthrob from her past? June\'s old flame has just returned to town after twenty years—and he\'s divorced. June is seriously rattled. So when the town\'s most devoted wife takes buckshot to her husband and some human bones turn up in her aunt Myrna\'s backyard, she\'s almost happy for the distraction.Sooner or later, love will have its way in Grace Valley. It always does.
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