Stung personally and professionally by an ill-advised affair, PR guru Jillian Matlock has rented an old Victorian with a promising garden in Virgin River. She's looking forward to cultivating something other than a corporate brand.
Both are looking to simplify, not complicate, their lives, but when Jillian finds Colin at his easel in her yard, there's an instant connection. And in Virgin River, sometimes love is the simplest choice of all.
Comment: Another Virgin River series installment. Since the beginning of the year, I've been reading a book a month and every time I get amazed by how special and warm these stories are. Even the ones I don't like as much are still wonderful in their own way. This is the 14th story, but only the 12th full length book and this is why I've read it in December.
This is the story of Jillian Matlock, we've met her when she and her sister plus two friends visited Virgin River in a trip. Now she's back after a problem with her job and a tip from someone at Jack's bar puts in her head the idea of cultivating vegetables for the six months she hopes to spend there.
Colin Riordan has had problems after his helicopter crashed and now he's painting in Virgin River to let tension go until the time to travel to Africa comes.
These two meet and are proud of the other's efforts to be someone else but at the same time they fall in love and in the end, perhaps what they thought they wanted isn't exactly what they feel they have to do...
Once again, I loved a book in this series...I think this is right after Noah and Ellie's, still my absolute favorite of them all. That one is a perfect ten, this an almost, but either way, both are wonderful examples of a beautiful story.
This story focuses on Jillian and Colin but we also have scenes with other beloved characters, Jack for instance plays an important role in this story as well and a couple of scenes with him were very emotional, but nothing tragic, just feeling's related. The community of Virgin River is prospering and it shows with all the little scenes apart from the main storyline. I really like the sense of unity and family we get from books like this, where we see everyone being part of the small town, being interesting in helping and offering a hand. It's really something we don't see everywhere.
As for the main story, both Jillian and Colin seek in Virgin River a new start for their lives even if they don't see it that way at first. Their romance has an expiration date but this doesn't stop them from getting together and I admit some of my favorite parts were when we would see them sharing their lives so easily that I doubt many people in the real world feel and live like that.
Jillian aimed for six months but her agricultural enterprise grows big and I enjoyed all the steps she goes for in her new adventure. I guess in real life things wouldn't happen as fast and as easily as that, but part of the charm and the beauty of a fictional romance is to see a bit of fantasy happening, so...
Colin only wanted to recover and go for new experiences after that. He didn't count on falling in love but even when both of them recognized that, Colin still went and Jillian let him because she rather know he didn't feel pressured than to feel guilty. I liked the balance in their relationship, once again a bit too perfect, but it didn't put shadows on the novel, I still appreciated it a lot.
The HEA is wonderful and it kind of teaches us a lesson because sometimes we let difficulties win and perhaps we should try something else to have a better life...the scary part is trying and being afraid of failure and in this the book is a bit unrealistic because both with Colin's painting and Jillian's business, things surely wouldn't be dealt as easily, but like I said a bit of fantasy doesn't hurt and in the end, this books shows how wonderful love and trust are and they are worthy of any effort.
I really enjoyed this romance and can't wait for more stories, at least there are still six more to be read...I do recommend this to any romance reader.
Grade: 9/10
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