Customer Reviews

Temptation Ridge (Virgin River, Book 6)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! Another winner by the talented Robyn Carr--this may be my favorite of the series since book #1, "Virgin River". There was just something about these characters that grabbed me emotionally. I loved the strength and courage of the heroine, Shelby McIntyre, who was determined to live her life to the fullest after spending years as her dying mother's devoted caregiver. And I loved the hero, former Army Blackhawk pilot Luke Riordan, who may not have been what Shelby thought she was looking for, but boy was he ever perfect for her. Be sure to have a big box of Kleenex close by, especially if you're a big marshmallow like me, because you'll need it with this one.

I loved, loved, loved everything about this one, from the main romance between Luke and Shelby, to the other romances between Shelby's Uncle Walt and former movie star Muriel, and Dr. Cameron Michaels surprising romance with one of Vanni's ("Second Chance Pass") girlfriends. I enjoyed catching up with all the town 'doings' in Virgin River. There's a birth, surprising pregnancies, another near town disaster where a lot of residents become heroes, a re-introduction of a character from the first book in the series, and sadly, a death of a beloved character. There's some new characters introduced, including an abused, homeless man with Down's Syndrome who Luke befriends, the introduction of one of Vanni's flight attendant friends, and most importantly, the introduction of Luke's mother and two of Luke's four brothers. (Please Robyn Carr, write a story about at least one of them!)

Once again, the author's descriptive narrative immerses you in the the tiny California town and it's colorful characters, and before long you'll be turning the pages so fast, dying to find out what's going to happen. I could not put this one down--I just fell in love with the hero and heroine--and it just about killed me when it looked like they wouldn't make a go of it. This is definitely one couple I hope to read more about. I'm also interested to see how pediatrician Cameron makes out with his budding romance--he has a lot of hurdles to overcome. And the 'senior' romance between Walt and reluctant movie star Muriel may be coming to a crossroads, and I can't wait to find out what direction it will lead to. These are all the reasons why I am anxiously awaiting the release of the next book in the series, "Paradise Valley".

If you are a fan of contemporary romance, do yourself a favor and immerse yourself in this wonderful series. It's sexy, hot, has colorful characters, interesting happenings, and most importantly, is very romantic. Hopefully there will be many more books to come.

A fantastic addition to the series. I would say this one is easily as good as (if not better than) book 1 Virgin River. I was up all night reading it, couldn't put it down! The main romance of this book is Luke and Shelby, and I just loved them from beginning to end. Unlike some of the other books in this series we see a lot of the main romance couple. And they are amazing together. Shelby is my favorite kind of heroine: smart, funny, level-headed but not over-done. She was so real. And Luke was so perfect for her. It was a wonderful (and at times very steamy!) romance to watch. Made me laugh, swoon, and sigh. They meet and are instantly attracted, but both know that neither are what they want in a relationship. He is 38 with a world of experience, she 25 without much behind her. He is the love'em and leave'em kind of guy, while she needs the romance with love and marriage...etc. However, the way their story unfolded was far from predictable, and very touching.

We get to see more of past characters too as well as updates on new budding romances. Some of the secondary stories include Walt and Muriel's story, which continues in such a sweet way. Another story includes Luke and a mentally challenged homeless person who he helps out, someone I am sure we will see more of in future books. I enjoyed that storyline a lot. We also meet several of Luke's brothers, and they have 'future hero' written all over them! I will not be surprised if one or two of them find their own romances in upcoming books. (I hope so!) And do you remember the town drunk from book 1? Yeah, she's back and connects with Mel in a big way. We also see a bit more of Cam, the Doc from Grants Pass, OR who we met in Second Chance Pass. He has his eye on one of Vanni's friends. It may sound like a lot of characters, but when they come together the story just flowed.

There are a lot of emotions in this book from happy, funny, tearful, steamy, suspensful and more. I can't wait for the next book that comes out next month. I also hope we get a Christmas book again to hold us over until the next series comes out in 2010. I am hooked on this series and will need the fix.

Lastly, I will say that these books are best read in order, but I think a person could read this one as a stand-alone. (Although I wouldn't really recommend it.) Enjoy!

I have to agree with the previous post, next to the first Virgin River novel, which introduced me to the town, this is my favorite. You pick up with the character's lives and make a few new friends along the way. You lose a dear character, so get the tissues ready!

Shelby and Luke have an instant attraction that is irresistable to them both and naturally, the whole town wants to have an opinion in their relationship. Luke's interaction with his family is hilarious at times and deeply touching with their love and concern for his happiness. His care and treatment of Art, the Down Syndrome man he befriends is heart warming.

Cameron, the pediatrician we met in Second Chance Pass, returns in this book and both he and the readers are introduced to Vanni's friend, Abby. Cheryl, who has had a drinking problem all her adult life finally gets the help she needs, thanks to Mel, to straighten her life up. You can't help but root for her!

I loved every word of this book and could hardly put it down until I was done with it. Of course, now I'm counting the days until the next book, Paradise Valley, is released!

Temptation Ridge is Book 6 in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series. If one goes online to check out any of Ms. Carr's books, they will find themselves awash in comments from devoted followers. Why the adulation? Because Ms. Carr delivers on a theme readers the world over, love. Brave military men and the women who love them who live to a code of honor, seemingly missing in today's gimme, gimme, entitlement era.

I love that this series provides new characters with their struggles while keeping us informed on the previous characters who inhabit tiny Virgin River, her fictional town in the Humboldt County redwoods. That said, I have a few issues with this particular book. While the characters, old and new, are interesting and developed so that I want to see what's happening next, this is the book where I got a little jaded at the pages and pages of hot, mind-blowing sex. I'm no prude, but there comes a point when a good thing can be overdone, and I found myself skipping pages to get to the plot. Also, and I understand that it is one person creating the scenes, but each character in the boinking episodes seems to do and say the same things as other characters in previous books. I would have preferred some variation on the theme (one of the reasons I really liked the story of Preacher and Paige-he wasn't a jaded Lothario, used to sex anywhere and everywhere. That made him rather endearing.)

Okay, this is the story of (mainly) Luke Riordan, eldest brother of five Irish American boys. Luke is thirty-eight, recently retired from an Army career flying Black hawks, a veteran of five conflicts and having been shot down three times. He's also the veteran of a very brief, painful marriage that has left him scarred on the inside, unable to commit to any woman. He meets General Walt Booth's niece Shelby McIntyre as she arrives in Virgin River to spend time at her uncle's. It's instant attraction for both Shelby and Luke, but Luke figures she's a teenager and off-limits. Shelby is young, just twenty-five, but after years of caring for her ill mother, she's ready to see life and the things she's missed. She's never had a boyfriend, never had sex, and she wants Luke to be the first. Luke attempts to discourage her, but not very hard-after all, this is Virgin River and the author is Robyn Carr.

As Shelby and Luke get better acquainted, friendship turns to something much more satisfying. I found Shelby quite refreshing as an inexperienced girl who knew what she wanted. Luke was harder to warm up to until his gentle side emerged. I liked the way he took Art Cleary, a young man with Down's syndrome under his wing.

Meanwhile, Walt is falling for retired actress Muriel St. Claire, and the feeling is mutual, even though the five-times-married Muriel wants only an affair.

Early in the story, we're treated to Joe Benson's marriage to flight attendant Nikki. Nikki's and Vanni's flight attendant friend Abby is a member of the wedding party and she hides the fact that her own marriage is over-has been over for quite some time. She seeks solace in the hotel bar and runs into Dr. Cameron Michaels. They talk, have drinks, and end up in his room for a night of sex. Michaels awakens in the morning and Abby has gone. But Cameron cannot forget Abby and he goes to great lengths to track her down.
Ms. Carr does a fantastic job of tying each of the threads into a finely woven ending, but you'll have to get your own copy to see how she does it.

As I said earlier, I found the almost nonstop sex a bit tedious, but Mr. Carr redeemed herself with some good conflict, danger, great insight into the human psyche and enough sweeteners to make me anticipate the next story.

I am very thankful that Ms Carr remembered the heart of her story in this book. In the last book she abandoned her two leading characters and they did not make an appearance in the final few chapters. Here, at least, she remembered what was supposed to be the main story, and started and finished with the right guys!

There are a couple of things I did not like about the main love story here. The first wasn't so important, but it still irked me; Shelby, the `timid virgin' happily discussed her sex life with anybody and everybody. The second thing I did not like was that it was Shelby who did all the work in this relationship. She let Luke go, and he did not go after her. She had to return to him and just about beg to be with him! That was not romance, and it was not equality. Luke let Shelby go. And instead of realising his mistake, she had to lose all of her pride by crawling back to him. In that respect I felt the ending was not only too short, but also extremely unsatisfying.

That said, Robyn Carr has an amazing ability to create memorable characters, and much of this comes through her dialogue. There are so many times in her books when I smile, or even laugh out loud. She has a great sense of humour. Often her stories do not have much in the way of plot, but it is the characters who drive the stories.

The structure of this book was a huge improvement on most of the previous in the series. The main storyline wasn't overshadowed by the others, and things that happened in the beginning had an effect on what happened at the end. In past books the storylines have often meandered from one plot point to the next, not reading as a solid novel from start to finish. This one was far better off as a novel in its own right, rather than a continuation of a series. And that is how any book - series or no series - should be.

The side stories - the author likes to have a number of stories running at the same time - were generally far more compelling and relevant than they have been in previous books.

First of all, I'm sure there wasn't a single reader who hadn't been hurting on behalf of Cameron before this book. I was so happy to see the evolution of a relationship of sorts with him here. However, I had two issues with it. Firstly, how come this became yet another opportunity for the author to preach about birth control? That was extremely unnecessary. Secondly, I do not like how the women (Nikki in the last book, and now Abby) go running from the men and make them feel so bad.

I would have liked for Brie and Mike to have had a better story here. I love that couple, and felt as though I was short-changed.

Though others have expressed their love of the Walt/Muriel relationship, I found it boring and silly. I especially did not like the way the author made this fictional character friends with real-life movie stars. It ruined the story to hear about George Clooney and Susan Sarandon extending dinner invitations. In fact, it was downright stupid.

The thing with the Virgin River heroines is that they all have the author's beliefs and prejudices. All of them are desperate for children. All of them marry fast and start trying for children immediately. All of them have natural homebirths, with all the men of the town having a party down the hall while it's happening (there is something really wrong about that). All of them go on and on about how wonderful breastfeeding is. All of them happily talk with all of the other men in the town about having sex and giving birth.

In this book Luke does not want children. I thought - hallelujah - there's a character with a different idea about the perfect life! But no, he just needed the right housewife to `cure' him of his issue.

I'd also like to point out that there needs to be a better editor for this series. Through all of the books I have come across so many mistakes. For example, `quiet and quite' and `there and their' mix-ups.

But for all the flaws, there's a reason I stayed up until 5am to finish this book. I don't know what it is about the way Robyn Carr writes, but she really draws you in. Her previous books have been good but hugely flawed, but this one really has something good going on. I quite simply couldn't put it down.

So after book #5 in this series, I think the series is starting to shape back up. I loved Shelby's character, however I found Luke constantly babble about her age a little annoying. After a while I was like we get it, you're older, she's younger. I love revisiting the other characters from the previous books, but I do wish that we could get more into some of their lives instead of only Mel and Jack. There was some sentimental moments in this book and of course the anticipation of the next book to make me want to continue on with the series

I have been reading the "Virgin River" in order. Other than a mild quibble here and there over careless editing, I enjoyed the first 4 books tremendously. #5 was a disappointment to me.

I did enjoy seeing characters from the other books with Jack & Mel featuring prominently in all of them. Other than that, I didn't enjoy Shelby & Luke. They were both so boring to me. Luke made such a big deal out of Shelby being so young. Granted she was a few years younger than he, but not enough to get so bent out of shape about. I just couldn't get a "care about" handle on either of them. Too bad.
I'm about to read #6 "Paradise Valley" and am hoping it's an improvement.

One thing I like about this series is the continuity of it all. You really need to start with "Virgin River" which is #1 in the series and read thru them in order or you can get a bit lost. I don't think they'd be quite as enjoyable otherwise.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK!! All of her books are amazing and I have a few of the girls I work with addicted to her as well. Robyn Carr brings so much life to her characters, it feels like you live with them. I have followed Jack and Mel since Virgin River #1 and I will re-read many many times. I cannot express enough appreciation for Robyn Carr!!!!!

2.5 out of 5 stars. This is the first book that I've read from this series, and even though it's within a series, I feel that each book can be read as a standalone novel. However, with that being said this novel/series, I've come to realize, is written in a way that each novel may have main characters but still has a bunch of sub-plots throughout the whole book. This makes it so some of the sub-plots that come up in one of the novels might not end until the next novel or a few novels after that. It's definitely a unique concept that made me even more interested in this series.

Nevertheless, I find that even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading about each of the main characters, the different plots, and the town. I didn't like this novel that well because of how the main characters (Luke and Shelby) story was dragged out. The first half I can understand, but by the time Thanksgiving came around and Luke is now having issues with his past come back to haunt him, it just got to be a little too much for me. Also, there were times when I got so caught up with what was going on between Luke and Shelby that I did get annoyed with having a new sub-plot come up because than I had to wait a couple of pages or chapters to get back to information about them.

Overall, though, I think this is a great series with lively characters and a wonderful town that I wish was real so I could visit! I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading Susan Mallery's Fools Gold Series!!

Review By: From Me to You ... Book Reviews
(read more of this review and a teaser on my blog)

Love this author, can't put the books down. Love the vergin river series. I have all my friends reading them also.