Wild Man Creek by Robyn Carr

In the twelfth book of the fabulous Virgin River series, the second of three for 2011, we are treated to the story of Colin Riordan and Jillian Matlock. Colin has winded his way to Virgin River to help recooperate after a bad helicopter crash that left him in alot of pain and unfortunately, addicted to pain killers. Thankfully, the addiction was short lived as his brothers noticed and stepped in to stop him....but he still got arrested from buying the drugs illegally. Through his therapy, Colin rediscovered his love of painting and while he is in Virgin River, he is taking photos of the wildlife to paint.

Jillian is back in Virgin River, after a brief visit with her sister and friends earlier in the year, because she is forced to take a leave of absences from her job due to a nasty dispute with a coworker. She begs Jack to let her rent out the big old Victorian that she noticed before, as it reminds her so much of her childhood with her beloved nana. With that comes all the memories of her nanas home grown, speciality vegetables....which Jillian decides she can grow and possibly redirect her life in that venue instead.

Colin and Jilly, as he grows to call her, meet up on her property one day as he is painting. Sparks fly right away and they head into a very heated love affair with their eyes wide open to the fact that Colin in leaving September 1st to head to Africa to photograph wildlife and possibly fly again and that she is only temporarily living in the Victorian. I was very happy with the fact that there really was no big misunderstanding in this book. They both acted like mature adults, but of course, I wanted to smack Colin when he still left for Africa even though they both said they loved each other. The love between these two was so romantic...they listened to each others passions and never tried to change each others mind, and it was smokin! :) The ending of this story was so heartwarming, it made my heart sigh and a few tears come to my eyes.

The major side story with this book was between Jack and the young Marine that popped up in the last book, Denny and once again, I was surprised with how that one turned out. We also got a glimpse of whats next in Harvest Moon between Jillians sister, Kelly and new to town, Lief and his um, rebillious teenager daughter. I can't wait to see how that one plays out! I feel like I am always repeating myself with these Virgin River books, but I have to say it again---I love coming home to this wonderful small town and I love the close family ties and the close ties between friends and neighbors. This is yet another solid addition to the series! 4 1/2 stars

I recieved this ebook via netgalley.com