2 Bloggers 1 Series - My Kind of Christmas

So Stormi and I are almost finished with the Virgin River series.  Next month wraps up the last one and reading it will be bittersweet.  However, I am pretty impressed that we've manage to read 18 of these so far and I'm pretty sure I've read a novella or short story thrown in somewhere as well.  So read on to hear my thoughts on My Kind of Christmas and then hop over to Stormi's to see what she thought as well.

 

 

TTITLE: My Kind of Christmas (Virgin River #18)

AUTHOR: Robyn Carr

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: October 23, 2012

PAGES: 318   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: While the Riordan brothers have a reputation for being rough-and-tumble, Patrick has always been the gentle, sweet-natured one. But his easygoing manner is tested by his high-octane career as a navy pilot, and for the Riordan men, when the going gets toughthe tough find the love of a good woman. 

Angie LeCroix wants to spend Christmas in Virgin River relaxing, away from her well-intentioned but hovering mother. Yet instead of freedom, she gets her uncle, Jack Sheridan. If he had his way, she’d never go out at all. And certainly not with Patrick Riordan. But Angie has her own idea of the kind of Christmas she wants and the kind of man. 

Patrick and Angie thought they wanted to be left alone this Christmas until they met each other. Now they want to be left alone together. But the Sheridan and Riordan families have different plans for Patrick and Angie and for Christmas, Virgin River style!

MY THOUGHTS: It's about time we got a book focused on the last Riordan brother.  They have been such a forefront in this series that I would say even thought they aren't original to the Virgin River area, the family has pretty much all landed there and found love so it feels like they've been there from the beginning.

Patrick is on leave from the service after seeing his best friend get shot down while flying in enemy territory and feeling responsible. Jack's niece is visiting and recovering from a car crash which almost killed her and has her questioning her whole life direction.  Even though they've been warned to stay away from each other, when the two meet in Jack's bar, sparks fly.  It isn't long until they are in a no-committment fling with the understanding that it has to end before the Christmas holiday when Patrick leaves town.

After reading 17 other books, I immediately saw where this book was headed.  But with this series, getting there is most of the fun anyway.  Angie is headstrong and stubborn, just like her Uncle Jack.  She is tired of everyone telling her what to do, especially her overbearing mother.  I really liked Angie's spunk and gumption.  She takes on a special project while visiting invovling one of the young girls in town and it really shows how much heart and gumption Angie possesses.  Patrick initially comes off as kind of a jerk which is weird because being the baby of the Riordan family, he's always been the nice one.  However, he brings a lot of baggage to town and feels obligation to move on before the holidays and try to convince his best friend's widow that she should marry him and allow him to take care of her and his son.

This book is cute, sweet and fun - everything I've come to love about the series.  Next month, Stormi and I will be finishing this one up and it just happens to coincide with the season release of the TV show on Netflix.  Looks like September will be a fun month.

RATING: 5 PAWS