2 Bloggers 1 Series - Virgin River

 

So Stormi and I are getting closer to the end.  Two more books in this massive series and we are hoping to finish up in September.  As excited as I am to finish it, I have to admit I will miss the town and the characters.  We are already looking for a series with similar vibes so if you have any suggestions, let us know.  You know the drill, read on to see my thoughts and then and then hop over to Stormi's at Storm Reads to see her's.

TITLE: Sunrise Point (Virgin River #17)

AUTHOR: Robyn Carr

PUBLISHER: MIRA Books

PUBLISHING DATE: April 24, 2012

PAGES: 378   

SOURCE: Hoopla

FROM GOODREADS: 

Former Marine Tom Cavanaugh’s come home to Virgin River, ready to take over his family’s apple orchard and settle down. He knows just what the perfect woman will be like: sweet, decent, maybe a little naive. The marrying kind. 

Nothing like Nora Crane. So why can’t he keep his eyes off the striking single mother? 

Nora may not have a formal education, but she graduated with honors from the school of hard knocks. She’s been through tough times and she’ll do whatever it takes to support her family, including helping with harvest time at the Cavanaugh’s orchard. She’s always kept a single-minded focus on staying afloat...but suddenly her thoughts keep drifting back to rugged, opinionated Tom Cavanaugh. 

Both Nora and Tom have their own ideas of what family means. But they’re about to prove each other completely wrong... 

MY THOUGHTS:  I really liked the plot in this installment and Nora was a treat.  However, I won't lie I'm not the biggest fan of Tom.  He is more likeable at the end, but it was a bumpy road getting there.

Nora has two small children thanks to an unreliable college boyfriend of questionable character.  She also has no family support as she was raised by a mother with concerning parenting techniques and a father who split when she was six.  So, Nora has learned to be independent, and she wants to start standing on her own two feet when she takes a job very few think she can do harvesting apples in the local orchard.  Tom is a former Marine who has come home to run the family business along with his grandmother, who raised him.  Needless to say sparks between the two immediately fly and Tom does everything he can, including dating a uppity woman he has little interest in, to put out the flames.

I felt at times Tom was just too darn judgmental.  He made a lot of assumptions about Nora right off the bat and even when he started to get to know her and the two became friends of a sort, he was STILL concerned about her being an unwed mother.  The best part about this book in my opinion is Nora learning what really happened with her mother and father and watching her build a relationship with him and welcoming him into her life.  I also really liked Tom's grandmother Maxie, who has no difficulty saying what is on her mind.

This was another great addition but due to the reasons I mentioned, and the fact that there is BEAR MURDER, I just can't give it a full 5 star rating.  However, I did enjoy it for the most part and am anxious for the next one!

RATING: 4 PAWS