Virgin River by Robyn Carr

“I’m not even sure I should be here! From the beginning,
I thought it was a mistake, making such a big change. I’m a city girl.”

 

Blurb:

Sometimes all you need is a fresh start
When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees an advert for a midwife in the remote town of Virgin River, she decides this is the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to revitalise the nursing career she loves.
However, her hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is uninhabitable, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. But when a tiny baby is abandoned on a front porch, Mel must decide whether to stay and help or cut her losses and leave.
Helped by local barman, and former marine, Jack Sheridan Mel must face her past, and finds that there may be a future in Virgin River after all.

 

Review:

Hi everyone,

I am delighted and honoured to bring you my review for Virgin River as my final Blog Tour. Virgin River is the first book of an 18 book series (so far), which has recently been made into a Netflix series. I haven’t seen the Netflix series, so I don’t know how true to the book it is. I do know I plan to, and to read the other books in the series!

Mel Monroe is a midwife. She’s recently widowed, and still grieving. She hears about Virgin River, and moves there when her application for a midwife position is accepted. However, her new home, and the town itself, is nothing like she’d believed, and she’s intending to turn right round and go back the way she came. Her leaving date keeps on being pushed back though; first by an abandoned baby, then by her own growing involvement with the people. Especially Jack.

Jack Sheridan, barman and former marine, is Mel’s first real friend in Virgin River. Despite his own baggage, he’s kind, patient, and protective. Especially to Mel.

This is very much a contemporary story, but Ms Carr has skilfully woven modernity with the kind of small town community which everyone is part of. She has created real, relatable characters, and she brings the place and people to life in an utterly wonderful way.

Virgin River has everything you’d want in a book. The emotional conflicts are relatable and believable; there’s romance, passion, and humour; and the external conflicts and problems are as real and universal as the emotional ones.

Be warned: this is a real emotional roller coaster of a book!

 

Buy:

Mills & Boon

Amazon UK

Harlequin.com

Amazon.com

Kobo

 

Author Bio:

Robyn Carr is a RITA® Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River series. Robyn and her husband live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Robyn’s Website     Robyn on Twitter     Robyn on Facebook     Robyn on Instagram

Rags To Riches Wife by Catherine Tinley

‘A true lady would have found a way to extricate herself gently.
But I am not a lady. I am me. Jane Bailey. Serving maid.’

 

Blurb:

Lady’s maid…
To wedded Lady?
Lady’s maid Jane Bailey’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of wealthy gentleman Robert Kendal. He’s come to take Jane to visit her long-lost, aristocratic grandfather. Travelling together, they succumb to a mutual attraction. Yet Jane knows a maid should not hope to love a gentleman, even if she’s suddenly wearing silk dresses and dining with the Family. Society decrees they cannot marry, but how long can Jane deny her heart?

 

Review:

Hi everyone, welcome to the third, and penultimate review of my final four blog tours. This time it’s for the wonderful Rags to Riches Wife by the equally wonderful Catherine Tinley.

Jane Bailey is a lady’s maid, daughter of a marriage between a servant and an aristocrat whose family disowned him. Jane is happy, she knows her place, but then a summons from her estranged grandfather catapults her into the world of the elite she serves.

Robert Kendal is the man chosen to bring Jane to meet her grandfather. He’s not expecting her to be a servant, so it comes as a bit of a shock when he finally meets her.

Jane and Robert are perfect for each other. During the journey, they become friends which helps put Jane at her ease, but a spark of attraction also flares up, which both of them will have to deal with. The internal conflict this chemistry causes in Jane is particularly hard. She knows how some men of the elite classes treat their female servants, the ostracisation of her parents hurt deeper than she knows, but above all, she’s perfectly happy and fulfilled as a lady’s maid. She doesn’t want to ‘move up in the world’.

This is an extremely poignant, and romantic story. Ms Tinley has captured the ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ society so well. Jane’s insecurities and courage are realistically and empathetically portrayed, while the snobbish attitudes towards servants and those of a lower class are totally believable. It’s full of emotional conflict, external opposition, and forbidden love. Yet it’s slow, and gentle, a true Cinderella romance which tugs at your heartstrings. You’ll need tissues for this one!

 

Buy:

Mills & Boon

Amazon UK

Harlequin.com

Amazon.com

Kobo

 

Author Bio:

Catherine Tinley is an award winning author who writes witty, heartwarming, Regency love stories for Harlequin Mills & Boon. She has loved reading and writing since childhood, and has a particular fondness for love, romance, and happy endings. After a career encompassing speech & language therapy, NHS management, maternity campaigning and being President of a charity, she now works in Sure Start. She lives in Ireland with her husband, children, and dog.

Catherine’s Website     Catherine on Twitter     Catherine on Facebook