A Virgin River Christmas, by Robyn Carr

Format: Kindle Edition

Published: February 1, 2008

Publisher: Mira Books

Back cover blurb:

Last Christmas, Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband Bobby. This Christmas she’s come to Virgin River to find the man who saved his life and gave her three more years to love him.Fellow marine Ian Buchanan dragged Bobby’s shattered body onto a medical transport in Fallujah four years ago then disappeared as soon as their unit arrived Stateside. Since then, Marcie’s letters to Ian have gone unanswered.

Marcie tracks Ian to the tiny mountain town of Virgin River and finds a man as wounded emotionally as Bobby was physically. But she is not easily scared off. As Marcie pushes her way into his rugged and reclusive life, she discovers a sweet but damaged soul beneath a rough exterior.

Ian doesn’t know what to make of the determined young widow who forces him to look into the painful past and, what’s worse, the uncertain future. But it is, after all, a season of miracles and maybe, just maybe, it’s time to banish the ghosts and open his heart.

My review:

Carr is another new author for me and now I just have to read the rest of this series, even though there are quite a few books in it already.This story, of a grieving Marine widow who goes up into the mountains to track down her late husband’s best friend who has dropped out of society after his experiences in Iraq, had me gripped from the very start. There was no question she would find him, or even that they would fall in love, but the story still held my attention all the way.

The great secondary characters – all of whom have their own books, I believe – made this book even better, and I can’t wait to read their stories. Even if I cry as much as I did at the end of this one. *sigh*

My rating: 4.5/5