Thursday, March 10, 2011

Harvest Moon by Robyn Carr

I finished this around February 28th. (Behind in my blog AGAIN!) I absolutely LOVED this book. Out of the 3 that came out this year, Promise Canyon was just ok, Wild Man Creek was awesome, in fact I thought that was my favorite, but that was until I read Harvest Moon! As I predicted Jillian's sister, Kelly moved to town and lived with Jillian for awhile. She met Greg, who was a writer, and who'd recently moved to Virgin River to get his stepdaughter, Courtney, out of LA. Courtney is a troubled teenager, who recently lost her mom and who was going through the grieving process. She felt like no one wanted her and was tired of feeling like she was being shuffled between Greg and her real dad. I really felt for Courtney. The book ended exactly how I wanted it to and I can't wait to read more about them in next year's books. I really loved Kelly too (she has an AWESOME name!) and really enjoyed hearing about all her cooking. I'm not into cooking, but alot of her recipes sounded good. Some people in my book group were upset that the "regulars" weren't really in this book much. I actually didn't mind that. I think if each book has the same characters, it would get boring after awhile. I enjoyed reading about new people for a change.

I definitely gave this one 5 out of 5 stars. And this should really go on my list of favorites.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Wild Man Creek by Robyn Carr


I just finished reading Wild Man Creek. That will probably be my favorite book out of this set of 3. I loved Jillian, and hearing about her Garden. I thought her and Colin were meant for each other. And I did kind of predict that he'd come back earlier than expected.

Another character that I really like is Shelby. She seems so comfortable to be around.

Luckily I only have to wait a couple more weeks for the next book. I really don't know who that book will be about. Maybe Jillian's sister, Kelly? Hopefully. And I think Denny needs a girlfriend. I really liked that Storyline too.

For now, I'm moving on to Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs!

I just wanted to get my initial thoughts down before I forgot them. I hope I can add more to this post as time goes on.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Upcoming Releases I'm Looking Forward to

Well for the first half of the year anyway...I'll add to this as I find more.

January

Promise Canyon- Robyn Carr 1/25

Marrying Daisy Bellamy 1/25 (Lakeshore Chronicles)

Here To Stay- Catherine Anderson 1/25 (Harrigan)

Against the Fire- Kat Martin (Raines Brothers)

February-

Angel’s Rest- Emily March 2/15 (Eternity Springs)

Harvest Moon- Robyn Carr 2/22

Against the Law- Kat Martin 2/22 (Raines Brothers)

A Light At Winter’s End- Julia London 2/22 (Cedar Springs)

A Creed In Stone Creek- Linda Lael Miller 2/22 (Creed Brothers)

Completely Smitten- Susan Mallery 2/22

March-

Sing You Home- Jodi Picoult 3/1

Night Road- Kristin Hannah 3/22

Hummingbird Lake- Emily March 3/22 (Eternity Springs)

Leaving- Karen Kingsbury 3/22 (Bailey Flanigan)

Almost Home- Mariah Stewart 3/22 (Chesapeake Diaries)

Already Home- Susan Mallery 3/29

Driftwood Cottage- Sherryl Woods 3/29 (Chesapeake Shores)

The Knitting Diaries- Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, Christina Skye 3/29

The Goodbye Quilt- Susan Wiggs- 3/29

The Sweetst Thing- Jill Shalvis 3/29 (Lucky Harbor)

My One and Only- Kristan Higgins 3/29

The Welcome Home Garden Club- Lori Wilde 3/29 (Twilight, Texas)


April-

Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier- Lisa Dale 4/5
Exposure- Susan Andersen 4/5

44 Charles Street- Danielle Steele 4/5

Save Me- Lisa Scottoline 4/12

A Turn In the Road- Debbie Macomber 4/26 (Blossom Street)

Moonlight Cove- Sherryl Woods 4/26 (Chesapeake Shores)

Any Man of Mine- Rachel Gibson- 4/26

May-

Beach Lane- Sherryl Woods 5/31 (Chesapeake Shores)

Creeds Honor- Linda Lael Miller 5/31 (Creeds)

June-

The Creed Legacy- Linda Lael Miller- 6/21 (Creeds)

Learning- Karen Kingsbury 6/21 (Bailey Flanigan)

Sunset Bridges- Emilie Richards 6/21 (Happiness Key)

July-

Can't Hurry Love- Christie Ridgway 7/5 (Three Kisses)

Escape- Barbara Delinsky- 7/12

A lady in my Robyn Carr bookgroup wrote this list and was nice enough to share, so I thought I'd post it in here for safekeeping. That's the thing with series, sometimes it's hard to keep track of who's who. Looking back through my entries I made a list for Grace Valley (Robyn Carr) and Lakeshore Series (Susan Wiggs) but surprisingly enough I never made one for Virgin River. Again, I didn't write this, so I can't take any credit for it. I'm just putting it in here so I'll be able to find it when I need to.


ROBYN CARR’S VIRGIN RIVER SERIES

CAST OF CHARACTERS

AS OF END OF OCT. 2010

Melinda (Mel) Monroe – nurse practitioner, widow (Mark, dec.) Worked with Doc Mullins. She is formerly from CA.

Jack Sheridan – owns Jack’s Bar – former marine

Children: Davy and Emma

John (Preacher) Middleton – cook in Jack’s Bar – former marine

Paige – ran away from ex Wes

Children: Christopher and Dana

Budd – her brother; bossy

Vanessa (Vanni) Rutledge – husband Matt killed in Bagdad

Paul Haggerty – Matt’s best friend

Children: Little Matt and Hannah (adopted from Paul’s friend Teri; dec.)

Walt Booth – Vanni’s dad; retired general; dates Muriel St. Claire; actress

Tommy – Vanni’s brother

North, Stan and Mitch – Paul’s brothers

Nikki Jorgensen – Vanni’s best friend

Carol and Lance – Matt’s parents. Cold people. Tried to fix Vanni up with

Cameron.

Marianne and Stan – Paul’s parents.

Mike Venezula – former marine, former LAPD, now police officer for Virgin

River.

Brie Sheridan – 30 yrs old. Jack’s sister. County DA, ex: Brad cheated on her with her best friend, Christine who is married to Glenn

Children: Ness

Luke Riordan – 36 yrs old. Retired from army; fixed up house and cabins that he recently purchased.

Shelby – Walt’s niece. Took care of mom for 25 years until she died.

Children: Brett Lucas

Luke’s brothers: Colin, Aiden, Sean and Patrick

Cameron – doctor

Abby – Nikki and Vanni’s friend. Her ex Ross is a rock star and left her right after the marriage.

Children: Julia and Justin (twins)

Joe Benson – designs houses for Haggerty Construction. He is Paul’s friend from Marine Corps.

Nikki Jorgensen – Vanni’s best friend.

Children: none so far.

Aiden Riordan – Luke’s brother. Navy med school.

Erin Foley – lawyer

Children: none so far.

Marcie – Erin’s sister.

Dewey – their brother

Marcie Foley; widow of Bobby (dec.)

Ian Bucannan

Children: Heath

Joey – Mel Sheridan’s sister

Bill – her husband

They live in Colorado

Hope McCrea -- elderly lady; deals in real estate; knows everything and

everyone

Doc Mullins – worked with Mel Sheridan at clinic. He died (Temptation Ridge); left clinic and his money to Mel.

Sam – Jack Sheridan’s father. Lives in Sacramento

His children:

Jack Sheridan – owns Jack’s Bar; married to Mel.

Jeanne – 43 yrs. CPA; married to a developer.

Donna – 45 yrs. College professor; married to a professor.

Mary – 37 yrs. Commercial airline pilot. Married to a real estate broker.

Ricky – joined Marines. (later called Rick).

Lydie Sudder – his grandma.

Liz – Ricky’s girlfriend. Was pregnant with his child (stillborn)

Rick lost a leg. Now goes to college. Will work with Paul and Dan Brady will be his supervisor.

Connie and Ron – own corner store.

Liz – Connie’s niece.

Connie had bypass surgery.

Joy and Bruce – Connie’s friend

Carrie and Fish Bristol

Doug and Sue Carpenter

Charmaine – waitress in Clear River. Divorced; mother of two.

Harv – lineman for phone company.

Buck Anderson – sheep rancher

Lily – had baby Chloe; left her at Mel’s for Mel to take care of her. Lily died of breast cancer.

Jo and Nick Fitch – rented rooms to Ellie Baldwin – former stripper.

Jo cannot conceived; got close to Ellie’s children.

Darryl and Polly Fishburn – Mel delivered Polly’s baby

Nick and Jo Ellen

June and Jim Hudson (Grace Valley)

June – doctor

Jim – retired law enforcement.

Children: Jamie

June and Jim Hudson’s friends from Grace Valley:

John and Sue Stone (Grace Valley)

Sue – nurse; is June’s friend

Children: Sydney – 7 yrs

baby boy

Anne and Jeremy Givens

Juliana and Mike Dickson

Tommy Rutledge – Vanni’s younger brother. 18 yrs old. Going to basic

Training then to West Point for four years.

Brenda – his girlfriend

Dan Brady (Shady Brady) – worked in construction at 18. Marines at 25. Works for Paul Haggerty. Saved Jack from fire. Has artificial leg, which he showed Rick. Dates Cheryl

Noah Kincaid – minister

Ellie Baldwin – former stripper. Worked for Noah and fell in love. Rents rooms from Jo and Nick Fitch.

Children: Danielle – 8 yrs. Trevor – 4 yrs.

Maureen Riordan – mother to the Riordan boys: Luke, Colin, Aiden, Sean and Patrick.

George – teacher; loves Maureen

Maureen sold condo and will travel with George in his RV.

Drew Foley – brother of Marcie and Erin; med school resident at UCLA.

Sunny Archer – photographer; visiting her Uncle Nate in Virgin River

CHARACTERS FROM MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS (2010)

Clay Tahoma – new to Virgin River. Originally from Flagstaff and the Navajo nation. Lately from LA, CA. Works for Nate Jensen.

Isabel – Clay’s ex

Gabe – Clay’s son

Ursula – Clay’s sister

Tom Toopeek – Ursula’s husband. Police Chief in Grace Valley. They have five children.

Lilly Yazhi – Hope Indian. Works in her grandfather Yaz’s fed store. She delivers feed.

Dane – Lilly’s good friend

Jillian and Kelly Matlock – rents one of Luke’s cabins for their vacation, along with their friends Penny and Jackie.

Kelly is a sous chef in San Fran.

Penny – works in Public Relations

Jackie – political analyst

Jillian (Jill) – Vice President in a software company

Denny Cutler – discharged from Marines….came to Virgin River to find his real father.

Promise Canyon- Robyn Carr


I am so excited that I FINALLY finished a book. Once again, I enjoyed another awesome book. I love this series because everyone feels like family, and I definitely feel peaceful when I read them. We were introduced to some new characters in this book. Clay Tahoma comes to work at Nathan Jensen's Vet Clinic. He is the brother of Ursula Toopeek, from the Grace Valley Series. I love how Robyn incorporated the Toopeek Family into this series...now hopefully we'll start to hear about more characters from the Grace Valley Series. I really wish she'd continue with the Grace Valley Series. Anyway, Lily works for her grandfather at his feed store, and makes daily deliveries to the Vet Clinic. It is there that she meets Clay. Of course they fall in love, but with many bumps along the way.

I plan to start Wild Man Creek, the next book in the series today. There were several new characters introduced in Promise Canyon, to set the stage for Wild Man Creek. Jillian and Kelly are a couple of the new characters. They were passing through Virgin River on their way home from a yearly road trip/vacation with two of their girlfriends, Jackie and Penny. And it looks like we'll hear more about Collin Riordan and his brothers.

Can't wait!!

I am dying to start Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs, but I want to read Wild Man Creek while Promise Canyon is still fresh in my mind, and also I can be ready for the next book when it comes out at the end of this month.

Other books I want to read very soon include:

Here To Stay- Catherine Anderson (I think I'm going to read this book out of order).
Against the Wind & Against the Fire by Kat Martin
The Backup Plan by Sherryl Woods
Home At Rose Cottage and Return To Rose Cottage by Sherryl Woods

And I really need to read Chesapeake Shores Christmas before Sherryl's 3 books for the year come out, starting in March or April.


Friday, January 14, 2011

I really want to get back in the habit of writing in this blog. It was/is definitely one of my goals for the new year. But in order to do that, I need to actually READ something. I have started several books but seem to lose interest in them. And, I have too many other addicting hobbies so I haven't been doing ANY reading lately. :(. I hope to change that really soon.

Some books I want to read and/or finish include

Promise Canyon- Robyn Carr
Christmas Eve At Friday Harbor- Lisa Kleypas (I know it's past Christmas but I still want to read it).
The Christmas Clock- Kat Martin (I was about halfway through when I developed my case of "reading restlessness").
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas- Sherryl Woods *Need to read this ASAP before the next 3 books coming out.

After I finish this list, I would like to read the Bride Quartet Series by Nora Roberts. Since it has been so long since I read the first book, I think I'm going to re-read the first one so it will be fresh in my mind when I read the other three.

There's also alot of upcoming releases that I'm excited about. I think I will write that list in a seperate entry.