Audio Review: Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr

Virgin River Christmas

Virgin River, #3
Robyn Carr

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Recorded Books
Narrator: Thérèse Plummer
Date of Publication: February 10, 2011
Abridged or Unabridged: Unabridged
Length of Production: 9 hrs and 13 mins

Available at the following retailers:
Amazon     Audible   Downpour

Welcome back to Virgin River with the books that started it all…

Last Christmas Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband, Bobby. This Christmas she wants to find the man who saved his life and gave her three more years to love him.

Fellow marine Ian Buchanan dragged Bobby's shattered body onto a medical transport four years ago, then disappeared once their unit arrived stateside. Since then, Marcie's letters to Ian have gone unanswered.

Marcie tracks Ian to the tiny mountain town of Virgin River and finds a man as wounded emotionally as Bobby was physically. As Marcie pushes her way into his reclusive life, she discovers a sweet soul beneath a rough exterior.

Ian doesn't know what to make of the determined young widow who forces him to look into his painful past and the uncertain future. But it is a season of miracles and maybe, just maybe, it's time to banish the ghosts and open his heart.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book.  The previous two had built upon characters that had been previously introduced, while this one started with unknowns.  In many ways, this could be read as a stand alone. There was small cameos made of of prior characters, but they didn't take over the story and have POVs.  This felt like a story told outside the regularly scheduled storyline. Not that that's a bad thing, but I was confused for a moment when a character that had died in a previous book was suddenly alive again.  Needless to say this story happens within the timeline of the last book.

Marcie and Ian have a charmingly lovely story. I laughed, sighed and even shed a few tears for these two lost souls working so hard to find their place in a world that has been torn asunder by the injury and eventual death of a man they both loved. There was even a beautiful message about finding and following the star that will light your path out of the darkness, that transcended the spiritual message it was couched in. I know I seem a bit mushy, but I just couldn't help it. This book was full of the feels and knew how to use them for maximum response.

The narration continues to be superb, bringing the characters to life in way that made them even more relate-able and real. This is a book that really brings home the spirit of the Christmas season. I can see myself reaching for this book year after year, eager to remember back the magic. 5 stars.