Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr

Wow, Ms Carr as really outdone herself this year with her Virgin River books. All three have been excellent and the latest is no exception. Harvest Moon finds Kelly Matlock coming to Virgin River to recover and reevaluate at her sisters from a broken heart and Lief Holbrook moving there with his rebellious teenager daughter, Courtney. Lief has suffered his own heartbreak at the unexpected death of his wife and an ongoing battle of wills with Courtney and her natural father (who is just a slime bucket).

What is interesting about this story is that the story is just about Lief and Kelly and their romance and about Courtney and her struggles to find herself again. There is really no side story. I really enjoyed Courtney, which I was surprised about because I thought she was going to be a bratty teenager, which she is at times, but Ms Carr does a great job with developing Courtney. I really thought the therapy sessions were interesting and they seemed, to me anyways, like something that would really work in a real life situation. I thought Courtneys transition back to her old self was believable and I got teary eyed during a situation between her and Lief, when she realizes Lief does love her for her and her real father just doesn't care.

The romance between Lief and Kelly is also well done, but then again, Robyn Carr seems to do most things well :) They were attracted to each right away but as Kelly had not been with many men she held off a bit before continuing on with their relationship. And of course Courtney dislikes her and Kelly does not try to force a relationship but the ending between them was very sweet. I was surprised with what came of Kelly broken heart relationship and thought it was a nice little twist that I enjoyed. I am sad that it seems our time with Virgin River this year seems to be done but I hope there is more to come in this series and I hope they all keep up with the wonderfullness the author as done this year. Loved the great community feelings, the turned up heat factor, and the believable characters. For Harvest Moon, 4 stars.

I received this ebook via netgalley.com

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

Promise Canyon by Robyn Carr

It is that time of the year again to return to my favorite small town, Virgin River. This entire series is a delight and I am so glad Ms Carr continues to write more books in this series :) This time around we meet a couple of new characters, Clay Tahoma and Lily Yazhi. Clay has come to Virgin River to work with Nate and Annie (That Holiday Feeling) as a vet assistant and he meets the feed delivery woman, Lily. They are instantly attracted to each, and not just because they are both of Native American, though rival tribes, descent but also for their love of horses.
Clay is coming away from a divorce that he just can't quite break off completely and Lily has a troubled past from when she was just fifteen that has made her very cautious with men. She takes very good care of her grandfather and really only seems to have her best gay friend Dean. I hope we get to see a bit more of Dean because he had one of the most laugh out loud moments for me in this book! Lily finds an abandoned horse and calls on Nate and Clay to help her and Lily remembers her deep love she had for riding and slowly starts to visit the stables everyday to see her....and Clay. Clay is patient with her, and thankfully, the enemy tribe situation is just something they laugh at and is not a problem for them, or really anyone in the extended family. They continue to bond over horses and life and when they take it to the next level, whew....pretty steamy and passionate this time around! Of course we have to have a big misunderstanding to work thorough and that comes in the form of Clays ex wife who just can not let go. Oh but the ending is so sweet it brought tears to me eyes! It was a perfect ending to this book!
Some of the side stories this time around involve Jack, Mel, and Hope and how the town reacts to a situation which really disappoints Jack. We also get to see some more of the yummy Riordan brothers after Colin has an accident and who is featured in the next story, Wild Man Creek and I can not wait to read that one! Is it necessary to read the previous books? Well...no...but should you, yes! This entire series is a wonderful story of what we can all hope a small town could be like. But for this story, I give it a solid 4 stars, a great addition to the series!
I recieved this ebook from netgalley.com

Midnight Kiss by Robyn Carr, Jean Brashear, Victoria Dahl

Midnight Confessions by Robyn Carr

This is a sweet short story in the wonderful Virgin River series. I'm not going to say much about this one because if you have read the previous books you will read this one to get a quick glimpse of what Virgin River is up to on New Years eve. If you have not read the series, this is just an all right read probably about two people trying to heal over getting left at the alter (her) and a broken engagement (him). It takes place over only one day, which I did not like, and its only 100 pages so I was left wanting more....which hopefully I will get in this new set of books coming out this year! 3 1/2 stars

Midnight Surrender by Jean Brashear

This was a pleasant surprise for me. I have not read anything by this author but I will be looking into her other books because Ms Brashear did a great job telling a sweet, hot love story in about 100 pages. Jordan comes off pretty stuck up and bitchy but sweet Irishman Will persists and helps Jordan discover that love isn't all that bad. I wish this would have been a full length novel because I would have loved to have seen more interaction between these two! 4 stars

Midnight Assignment by Victoria Dahl

This was another winner from one of my favorite authors. We meet Noah and Elise, FDIC agents, who are about to take over a failing bank. Having worked at a bank that changed hands recently, I was really intrigued by the storyline and felt Dahl did a great job with it. Noah and Elise had worked together before and shared a kiss but parted on uneven terms and need to overcome those terms this time which leads to some steamin romance. I also would have enjoyed this one as a full length novel but this short story was excellent and hot. 4 stars