Roby Carr - Virgin River

Wanted: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against the backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal-clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included.
When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to reenergize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she's made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning.
But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans...and a former marine cements them into place.
Melinda Monroe may have come to Virgin River looking for escape, but instead she finds her home. 

Comment: Many of my friends have been talking about this series for a long time. I thought small town stories, more sweet and friendly than hot and sexy are a preference of mine in a contemporary setting so I started "collecting" the books and I finally decided to start them, nothing better in a new year too. I still have many books to get (I only have 11 I think), but the first one is read and it was a good read, considering my expectations.

Melanie is a experienced nurse, expert in births and midwifery and she's tired of her demanding job and seeing so many bad things she can't control. Her husband died too and she feels ready to work somewhere calmer...so she replies to a job request in Virgin River, a village away from the city. In there she starts to think she's made a mistake, but with time her point of view on things changes...

Jack is an ex marine working on Virgin River's bar. He serves food too and knows everyone there. He feels vary attracted to Mel and stats helping around the place, renovating her house...slowly he starts falling for her and wanting her to stay.

I liked the book a lot. It wasn't as perfect as I imagined, no. But it had many things that made me eager to keep reading and not putting the book down.

The romance was quite balanced. I was curious over both their pasts and how they would deal with it. I think the fact the romance between them doesn't look rushed also helps..one of the things that bother me the most in a romance, in particular in contemporaries, is how fast everything happens. It doesn't look like a romance, it's more lust to love and it's not as...dreamy as a good old fashioned romance.

Anyway, they took their time and talked about things and it helped me to see time passing before they got intimate, it's like they stopped to think and to just go with the flow before starting a physical relationship. In the end I loved to see them together.

There are some god scenes in th book, unforgettable, like one in particular, in the end, when Jack asks Mel abut a certain thing....loved that one.

Like it's to be expected in a small town romance, there are many secondary characters and some of them are going to be important for future books, for sure.

One thing left me thinking...that's a small place, not much to do there...I wonder what are the incoming characters going to do there and how will they get money, especially if the closest town is so distant...hum, small details concern me, for sure. I like to think about all the little things.

I know the next book features a characters we've met already and I'm quite curious about that book, can't wait to get to it.

I hope the remaining books are as sweet as this one.