3rd in the Virgin River SeriesAnother good one. Miguel "Mike" Valenzuela is almost healed from being shot 3 times by a gang banger. His best friend's little sister, Brie, is raped and beaten. He has only just started to realize his feelings for her and he reaches out to be there for her. He takes it slow with her and helps her heal her soul.That is only the beginning of the story for Virgin River. Mike and Brie are the romance, but so much more is going on in the town. There is a date rapist in the high school, but the girls can't even remember what happened. Brie's story parallels with the young girls and being strong enough to stand up to what has happened. What I enjoy about the VR series is the continuation of the Virgin River saga--some series only visit a couple once and then they are just mentioned in passing in following books...not so here. The stories of everyone in the town are woven together throughout the series. I am looking forward to reading more...I've read 2 in 2 days, so I know I am enjoying them! ( )

Sweet and a fast-read. ( )

Carr ran out of steam in the last of the trilogy - too bad. I had grown to really love the Virgin Rock crowd, but was quite finished with them after this last installment.
Basic plot: Jack's sister, Brie Sheridan, is a tough-as-nails criminal lawyer who loses a difficult case and lets a serial rapist back out on the streets, only to be attacked and raped by said creep a short while later. She heads for Virgin River to recuperate.
Mike Valenzuela, hunky ex-Marine cop friend of Jack and Preacher's has been recuperating from a horrible gunshot encounter with an LA gangbanger, He's always admired Brie from a distance and now has a chance to soothe and smooth away her fears, lack of confidence and panic after her rape. Background story has Mike tracking down a teenage date-rapist after 3 innocent girls end up pregnant and infected with chlamidia.
Good points: at first, Brie and Mike's romance was one of the most tender on record. Boy! This man had patience and it paid off!! Also, I did enjoy seeing the whole VR gang once again.
Bad points: Just like in Book 2, Jack and Mel took over the spotlight too many times. Jeez - it was Mike and Brie's story but they starred in about 1/3 of it, not even half. Also, as much as I adore having men together with children in a story (one of the reasons I got so hooked on this series), I can only take so much of female characters getting pregnant! Almost every female in the book is pregnant or was pregnant before the end. Yikes - what's in that Virgin River water????
I loved Mike - I loved Preacher - I love Rick(y) - but they are ALL THE SAME! Way too good to be true!! And then one more perfect boy-man gets introduced into the story - Tom Booth. PLUS yet one more story of love and babies is woven in - Vanessa and Paul! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!
So yes, this was a wonderful trilogy that didn't take me long to read but Carr should have devoted more time to her main characters of each book. Also, by making the men so perfect and predictable, they were almost boring by the end. ( )

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