Monday, November 9, 2020

Virgin River (Virgin River, #1) by Robyn Carr

 

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My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance
Content: Strong language, Lots of pretty descriptive sex between an adult couple and one teen couple


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 former marine Jack Sheridan cements them into place.

 




I watched the Netflix series based on this book and I liked it, so I thought I would give the book a try. Usually the book is even better right? Well, not this time. I actually think Netflix improved the story.

The TV show is pretty clean, just a nice sweet romance, so I was really surprised at how much sex was in this book. It wasn't erotica or anything, but it wasn't glossed over either. A little bit doesn't bother me, but I think there was more sex in this book than any other book I've read this year. I felt like it ruined the story, because it became more about that than any real feelings that were happening between Mel and Jack. We are told they are developing real feelings for each other, but from the first time Jack lays eyes on Mel all he can think about is her "tight little body". Needless to say, I didn't care for Jack's inner monologue about Mel. I liked him so much better in the TV show, and Mel too. The Mel in the book got on my nerves the way she kept sleeping with Jack, but also thinking she wasn't ready to move on.

This book is set in a rural mountain location, but in some ways it felt like it was lost in some time warp. Maybe there really are people who live this way in the mountains? I don't know, I could picture it in Alaska for sure, but the towns that were featured in this book felt so outdated for California, not just because of the way they lived but also because of the way the people thought. They were supposedly far from civilization, although it did seem to only be an hours drive to the nearest city, so that was weird to me.

This is a 19 book series. Which just seems way too long for a romance series, plus this first book by itself was over 400 pages long, and it didn't need to be. I started to get bored. There was also this side plot about a couple of teens that could have just been cut out altogether. It added nothing to the story other than for Jack to come off as hypocritical when he gives the boy advice on sex and using protection.

It probably would have been better to add that story line into a different book, and maybe it's expanded upon later, but I'm fine with stopping here and just enjoying the Netflix show, which I need to say again, is so much better than this book.




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