Shelter Mountain
Virgin River, #2
Robyn Carr
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Recorded Books
Narrator: Thérèse Plummer
Date of Publication: May 6, 2009
Abridged or Unabridged: Unabridged
Length of Production: 12 hrs and 45 mins
For the second time in a year a woman arrives in the small town of Virgin River trying to escape the past.
John “Preacher” Middleton is about to close the bar when a young woman and her three-year-old son come in out of a wet October night. A marine who has seen his share of pain, Preacher knows a crisis when he sees one—the woman is covered in bruises. He wants to protect them, and he wants to punish whoever did this to her, but he knows immediately that this inclination to protect is something much more. Paige Lassiter has stirred up emotions in this gentle giant of a man—emotions that he has never allowed himself to feel.
But when Paige’s ex-husband turns up in Virgin River, Preacher knows his own future hangs in the balance. And if there’s one thing in the marines’ motto of Semper Fidelis—always faithful—has taught him, it’s that some things are worth fighting for.
The Virgin River Series has been on my TBR list for quite awhile. When I recently got book one, Virgin River in audio format, I was thrilled at how good it was. Thérèse Plummer continues as the narrator and again does a wonderful job of voices the characters of every one from 3 year old Christopher to crotchety old Doc. She totally makes the book come alive.
This story is mostly about Preacher and Paige... mostly. About half the book is Preacher & Paige, a quarter of the book is Jack & Mel and the baby, and the other quarter is split between Rick & Liz and Bree & Mike. Oh yes, I can see that we will be revisiting these 2 couples later down the line. I really liked that we got to return to Jack & Mel and the consequences from Rick & Liz are addressed from book one. But I wish we had more with Preacher & Paige. Though looking back, neither one of them is overly complicated. They are simple people wanting a simple life. There is a sweetness there that is attractive and lovely, but let's face it, also a bit boring. So I am glad that we got to check in with the other characters, making this more an ensemble story.
I am about to get a bit spoilery, but I need to vent. A solid theme in this book was maternity. At one point, Mel, Paige and Liz were all pregnant. However, Mel's is the only child that survives. I understand that in reality things happen, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth the way it was set up. It wasn't enough to keep me from getting the next book, but other smaller things now annoy me more, like how everyone use "buddy" all the time. The more that pulls me out of the story, the more I find that irritates me in the story. Anyone else have that problem?
This was a very emotional book: physical abuse, miscarriage, death and near death, multiple divorces. But I didn't have the emotional connection that could have made this book a real tear-jerker. And I don't think it was just the maternity thing. I have book 3, Whispering Rock, but I think I am going to take a small break first to make sure it's not just a my mood issue. Overall I liked the book, was really pleased about the narrator and enjoyed the town, so I went with 3 stars.
I'm a bit hit or miss with her books. I like the ones that focus on just one couple instead of the group books. So have had some 5s and some 2s in the series. And yes once I catch a word that's used over and over it's SO hard to let it go and not twitch. I don't remember that from this one but it's been a pretty long time.
ReplyDeleteNormally I like ensemble books, when they are done right. I think if this had been done novella style for Preacher and Paige, it honestly might have gotten a higher score. There was just soooo much extra that they didn't feel like the center of the story.
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