Review - - Wildest Dreams

Wildest Dreams
By Robyn Carr
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: August 25, 2015

Professional triathlete Blake Smiley has searched the country for the perfect place to put down roots - roots he's never before had - finally settling on a beautiful house overlooking the water in Thunder Point, Oregon. He's looking forward to the training opportunities the location affords as well as the serenity of the small town where he can focus without distractions. Thunder Point seems like the perfect place to wind down his competitive career as he begins the transition to running his foundation full-time. What he doesn't anticipate is a family of retired Olympic athletes next door, a young boy who steals his heart and an undeniable attraction to the boy's mother.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Simmons aches to break free of his mom's restrictions. Once a sickly baby with life-threatening asthma, Charlie's illness is controlled by medication though he still has to be watchful. His mom insists he spend his days quietly, sitting on the steps with his computer, but Charlie longs to run, swim and bike like other teens. Lin Su Simmons is a home health nurse working for Winnie Banks. Winnie and Charlie have become thick as thieves and Charlie has spent his summer days at the Banks home overlooking the water in Thunder Point, at Winnie's insistence. When Blake Smiley moves into the house next door with his million-dollar bike, Charlie seizes the opportunity to meet the athlete, hoping that he might share some of his training knowledge. Charlie does not intend to spend his days watching life pass him by, no matter what his mom says.

Lin Su Simmons has a complicated history, one she refuses to discuss, even with her son. She's a proud woman who holds herself apart from others. She put herself through school, works hard, and is a dedicated single mother. Perhaps, too dedicated. Charlie is her whole life and, in her opinion, there's no need to add anyone else to the mix, especially the good-looking athlete next door who is filling Charlie's head with dangerous ideas about riding bikes and working out. It doesn't matter that Blake finds her attractive or that she feels the same or that others think they are perfect for one another. Lin Su's heart is surrounded by solid steel and breaking through that barrier is going to be the toughest challenge Blake has ever faced.

Speaking of tough challenges, reviewing Wildest Dreams was one for me. Let's start with the positives. I'm a fan of Carr's Thunder Point books. I enjoy the community aspect of the series and the opportunity to catch up with current residents while also meeting new ones in each book. That holds true for Wildest Dreams. I adored both Blake and Charlie. Blake is a self-made man who came from abject poverty. He's caring, compassionate and gives so much of himself to help disadvantaged young people. Charlie squeezed my heart on a regular basis with his desire to live life and not be relegated to the sidelines. I enjoyed their interactions and looked forward to each time they graced the pages. Winnie Banks, a prominent character in this book, continues to deal with the effects of her declining health due to ALS and Carr's handling of this storyline is both poignant and empowering. Winnie's scenes with Charlie as well as those with her daughter's former coach, Mikhail are among my favorites.

What I did not enjoy was Lin Su. I understand that she's had a difficult life and I appreciate her concern for her child but I found her to be controlling, judgmental, and inflexible, not just with Blake and Charlie but with everyone. I had a hard time buying into Blake and Lin Su's HEA and found myself feeling sorry for Blake that she was the person his heart had chosen. If not for Charlie, I would have told him to run as far and as fast as he could.

It's a testament to Carr's writing that I still enjoyed this book, even with my intense dislike of the heroine. Also, just because I didn't like Lin Su and didn't buy into her romantic chemistry with Blake doesn't mean others will feel the same. I'm sure there are many readers out there who do not share my opinion.

~PJ

Review - - A New Hope

A New Hope

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Release Date: June 30, 2015

With the help of her cousin, Ray Anne Dysart, and her boss, Grace Dillon, Ginger Dysart has conquered the depression that almost destroyed her after the death of her infant son from SIDS. Ray Anne’s indefatigable optimism, Grace’s kindness, her job at Grace’s flower shop, and the supportive community that Thunder Point, Oregon, offers even to newcomers have helped Ginger restart her life. Although the loss of her child has left a hole in her heart that can never be filled and she still questions her sanity in falling for her former husband, a self-absorbed singer/songwriter unprepared for fatherhood, Ginger has found that it is still possible to find joy and purpose in life.

Joy is certainly the mood of the day at the Lacoumette farm where the wedding reception of Peyton Lacoumette and Dr. Scott Grant takes place. Ginger helped Grace with the flower arrangements, but she skipped the wedding. However, the wonders of Basque food, music, and dancing and the warm welcome of Peyton’s large extended family make Ginger glad that she attended the reception. With a new dress and more invitations to dance that she can count, she is even feeling pretty for the first time in a long while. But the magic of the evening ends when a good-looking Basque refuses to accept her refusal to dance or pursue other, more interesting options. When he gropes her, Ginger is forced to give him a shove that leaves him on the floor, drunk and unconscious.

Part-time professor and full-time farmer Matt Lacoumette knows that he was a jerk, but his sister’s wedding reception on the exact site of his own wedding two years earlier was just too much for him to handle sober. As a result, the asshat behavior that has become his modus operandi ruled the occasion. Less than a year after his wedding, Matt’s marriage was over, and he is still filled with bitterness over his ex-wife’s inability to adapt to life as the spouse of a farmer, still filled with mixed emotions about her, and still dealing with anger over the choices she made. His siblings may have christened him “Mad Matt” since his divorce, but Matt is sane enough to know that his drunken behavior was inexcusable. He owes apologies to his parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and to the woman he accosted.

His memories of the episode with Ginger are dim, and Matt is pleasantly surprised by how attractive he finds her when he visits the Thunder Point flower shop to make his apology. He never intended to make an invitation to dinner part of his grovel scene, but he wants to see more of Ginger. Dinner is a success: “He made her laugh and he was mesmerized by her sweetness and charm.”  An easy friendship develops between Ginger and Matt as they share bits of their lives and pieces of their hearts with one another through long, nightly phone calls and occasional dates. Ginger fits in beautifully with Matt’s family, comfortable with farm life and with the exuberant Lacoumettes. But when the relationship turns romantic, Matt’s doubts surface and he runs. Even when he realizes his error, complications from his marriage and divorce, heavier than even his family knows, shadow his relationship with Ginger. Matt must deal with his past and his residual anger before he can build a future with the woman who has totally claimed his heart.

As is typical with Carr’s books, the central romance unfolds against a backdrop of community life that includes secondary plots and appearances by a score of characters, most of them familiar from earlier books. Fans of the series will be pleased that A New Hope allows them to attend the beach wedding of Grace Dillon and Troy Headly (One Wish). The book also shows couples from earlier books as they prepare to become parents, and Grace’s mother, Winnie Dillon, an ALS patient, as she prepares to spend the final stage of her life as part of the Thunder Point community and in a less fraught relationship with her daughter.

A New Hope is the eighth Thunder Point book, a series which promises to be as long-lived and beloved as Carr’s trend-setting Virgin River series. This book  proves once again what a consistently good writer Carr is. She is particularly effective in creating communities peopled with characters whose lives realistically mirror ordinary life and who prevail over their problems with the support of family, friends, and community.  Ginger and Matt are engaging additions to Carr’s cast of characters. If you are a Carr fan, if you are a reader who can’t get enough of small-town romance, or if you search for stories in which the wounded are healed, the lonely find love, and lovers find a deserving and credible HEA, you should add A New Hope to your to-be-read shelf ASAP.

~Janga 

Review - - One Wish

One Wish

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Release Date: February 24, 2015

Isabella Grace Dillon Banks, better known as Izzy Banks, was once the brightest star in the galaxy of American figure skating, but the Olympic Gold medal winner walked away from the fierce competition and sometimes vindictiveness of that world to settle into a quiet life as Grace Dillon, owner of a flower shop in Thunder Point, Oregon. Only Jake Galbraith, owner of the ice rink where Grace sometimes skates alone for an hour or two, recognizes Grace, and he has promised to keep her secret. Even her friends know nothing about her other life, and that is the way Grace wants it. Envied for her accomplishments and resented for her family’s wealth that made her skating career possible without the level of sacrifice required of most skating families, Grace made few friends in the figure skating community, and even those few distanced themselves after she made an accusation against a successful coach. Her relationship with her mother was strained by Grace’s decision to leave skating, and her former coach, with whom she does maintain contact, is unlikely to appear in Thunder Point. Grace is content to be just another Thunder Point resident, one who is living a normal life and finding her place in the community.

Troy Headly, a history teacher at the local high school, is young enough to be considered cool by his students and handsome enough to be the object of student crushes. Troy loves his job even if he has to work a second job filling in at Cooper’s bar in order to support his hobbies, which include skiing, white water kayaking, and other adventurous sports. Troy and Grace have hung out together and developed a friendship of sorts, mostly linked by their ties to Iris McKinley (The Homecoming). Iris’s recent marriage to Seth Seleski has left Troy’s heart bruised, and he is looking for a rebound relationship. Grace meets all his criteria; she is pretty, smart, and athletic. Besides, he thinks she needs more fun in her work-focused life—and he is just the guy to coach her in the art of filling her life with fun.

Grace, who missed out on all the usual activities growing up, is not exactly a tough sale when Troy explains what he has in mind. Soon the two are sharing hikes with unexpected conclusions, movie nights with popcorn and beer, and service as chaperones at a high school dance. All this togetherness intensifies the simmering attraction between Grace and Troy, and the friends become lovers. Troy isn’t sure he’s ready to promise forever, and Grace knows she needs to surrender her secrets if she wants the feelings that she can scarcely acknowledge to have a chance to grow. When bits of Grace’s past intrude on their idyll, her secrets are disclosed. Surprisingly, Troy handles her celebrity well but stumbles over her wealthy background. Grace proves stronger than even she suspected she could be when Troy backs off just when the situation grows more complicated. Can Troy recognize all he stands to lose before it’s too late?

This seventh book in Carr’s Thunder Point series gives readers another friends-to-lovers tale, although the friendship of Grace and Troy is considerably briefer than that of Iris and Seth in Book Six. This friendship also begins as a much more light-hearted relationship. The development of Grace and Troy’s relationship includes some deliciously humorous moments. My favorite such moment is Grace’s response early on when Troy asks her about current and past boyfriends. She mentions one who is “like a medieval knight” and a bit later adds to the list:

“And they’ve all been amazing. I spent time with a guy who actually owns a plantation in South Carolina, a guy with a British title of some kind—viscount I think. There’s Malone who owns a lobster boat on the East Coast, there’s a bar owner, a guy in a ski patrol, a navy SEAL . . . very, interesting, sexy guys.”

If the reader is not quick enough or well-read enough in romance to pick up on the allusions to romance novel heroes, including the hero of Catch of the Day by the author’s pal Kristan Higgins, Carr gives it away when Grace adds, “And there’s Wrath . . . I’m afraid he’s a vampire, but a very nice and sexy vampire.” You have to love a heroine with a filled ereader, a keeper shelf in case technology fails, and an appreciation for book boyfriends who never cheat and never necessitate that one undergo STD screening.

If that exchange leaves the reader smiling, the conclusion of Grace and Troy’s first fun adventure will leave her laughing out loud. Troy’s stubbornness leaves him drenched by a huge wave in thirty-eight degree temperatures. Since it is New Year’s Day, a souvenir shop offers the only available dry clothing: a sweatshirt with the words “My Heart Is in Coos Bay” and “a pair of women’s shorts with eyelet lace sewn around the legs,” size XL. If the image doesn’t cue the giggles, a run-in with a police officer when Troy is changing into his new outfit surely will.

As funny as these scenes are, there is nothing humorous about Troy’s request for “space” when Grace needs him most. However, he redeems himself from jerkdom with a heart-melting declaration scene. Darker emotions are also woven into the story when Grace learns that her mother has been diagnosed with ALS and with the heartbreaking history of a new character. Familiar characters also make appearances, and readers who have followed the series receive a special treat when many Thunder Point folks gather for the colorful and exciting Basque wedding celebration of Peyton Lacoumette and Dr. Scott Grant (The Promise).

Carr’s Thunder Point series still runs second to her Virgin River books for me, but her superb characterization skills and fine storytelling make this series well worth reading. If you haven’t paid a visit to Thunder Point yet, One Wish is a good place to start. Carr fans definitely won’t want to miss it; there’s even a Virgin River connection. Fans of small-town romance who have never read Carr owe it to themselves to try the author often credited with starting the trend. I believe that any day I read a Robyn Carr book is a good day. I recommend One Wish—and I’m already wishing for the next two Thunder Point books—A New Hope, which includes a murder mystery, set for release on June 30, and Wildest Dreams, an August 25 release.

~Janga

The Homecoming - - Review and Giveaway

The Homecoming

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Release Date: August 26, 2014

Seth Seleski was a golden boy during his high school years in Thunder Point, Oregon—good-looking, popular, and the kind of football player whose talent earned him a college scholarship. A single year with the Ducks was good enough to win him Heisman Trophy consideration and a contract with an NFL team. But one year into his contract with the Seahawks, an automobile accident, due in part to Seth’s driving too fast, ended his NFL career and changed another man’s life forever as well. Now thirty-four, Seth has returned to Thunder Point, not as the hero of headlines in the sports section but as the deputy sheriff taking over as substation supervisor from Mac McCain, who has been promoted to a job at county headquarters. Seth also hopes to improve his relationship with his grumpy father, who can’t forgive Seth for throwing away a chance at a pro career, and to renew his friendship with Iris McKinley, who was his closest friend until their senior year in high school.

Iris McKinley was not one of the cool kids in high school but rather an outsider. However, since she had her best friend Seth Seleski to share her life, things never seemed too bad. Next-door neighbors, Iris and Seth grew up together, always there for one another despite the fact that Seth was Mr. Everything and Iris was a looker-on. Then their senior year in high school, Seth did the unforgivable and proved Iris could not count on him after all. That marked the end of the relationship they had known. Sixteen years later, Iris is a counselor at the high school she once attended, committed to helping kids like the one she was who are struggling to find a place for themselves. But although Iris has a great heart, she also has a long memory. She still has not forgiven Seth, and the last thing she wants is a grown-up Seth constantly invading her life, trying to persuade her that their friendship can be restored.

Robyn Carr returns with the sixth installment of her Thunder Point series, another novel with rich context, engaging characters, and a focus on a contemporary issue. Reunited lovers and friends-to-lovers are two of my favorite tropes, and Carr successfully combines the two in this appealing story. A mature Seth harbors regrets about the self-centered actions of his younger self and sincerely works at making amends. His relationship with the other man injured in the accident that ended Seth’s football career was one of the book’s highlights for me. Iris is an immensely likeable heroine, and watching Seth win her over despite her determination to hold on to her justifiable anger is amusing and touching.

Carr does her usual stellar job of weaving other threads into the romance. Seth’s difficulties with his father complicate his story, and Carr again targets an issue that will resonate with her readers. This time the issue is the cycle of domestic abuse and its effects on individuals and the community. Fans of the series will appreciate the appearance of familiar characters, but new readers will have no difficulty reading The Homecoming as a standalone.

Robyn Carr is the queen of small-town romance fiction. She is one of the few authors I know who can sustain a series over an extensive run. Her Virgin River series ran for eighteen novels and two novellas, and I was an eager reader through the end. She seems likely to repeat her success with Thunder Point. The sixth installment is a welcome addition to the series. If you like small-town settings and a central romance with added interest, I recommend The Homecoming.

~Janga


PJ here!  I share Janga's love of Robyn Carr's books and am eagerly anticipating returning to Thunder Point with The Homecoming.  I was fortunate to come home from the RWA national conference this summer with an awesome Robyn Carr beach bag and a signed copy of the fifth book in the Thunder Point series, The Promise.  They will both go to one lucky reader who leaves a comment on today's blog. (U.S. addresses only)

Are you reading Robyn Carr?

What's your favorite Robyn Carr book or series?

Do you enjoy a second chance romance? Friends to lovers stories?

Tell me about your hometown.  Why do you enjoy (or not enjoy) living there?  What makes it special?  Does it have a claim to fame?

Deadline for leaving comments for the giveaway is 11:30 pm EST, August 28th.  

Review - - The Promise

The Promise

By Robyn Carr

Publisher: Harlequin Mira

Release Date: June 24, 2014

Widower Dr. Scott Grant may be a relative newcomer to Thunder Point, Oregon, but he has been in the town long enough to know that it is the place he wants to build a new life and rear his two children. Thunder Point has embraced Scott and his children. The citizens keep him busy caring for their medical needs, and they have made him a welcome and integral part of the community. Scott was still grieving over the loss of his young wife when he arrived in town, but time has brought healing and the realization that he is ready to be more than daddy to Will and Jenny, doctor to his community, and good buddy to half the town. Enter Peyton Lacoumette.

Peyton never intends to become a permanent resident of Thunder Point, Curiosity brought her there after seeing an ad for a physician’s assistant while she was vacationing in the area. Peyton is looking for a new job because her boss, a charismatic Portland cardiologist, was also her lover. When their three-year relationship ended because Peyton could no longer tolerate his ineffective parenting of his three “rude, insensitive, lazy and obnoxious” kids, she needed a new home and a new job. She’s fairly sure that she will end up in a city and with a significantly higher salary than the one Scott Grant can offer, but Thunder Point and its people charm her. It has the added advantage of being only a few hours from her family’s farm. It may be just the place for her to spend a few months and get her head together.

Scott and Peyton’s relationship develops slowly. They have to work their way through some misunderstandings first, and even then Scott is ever aware that Peyton plans to leave. For her part, Peyton has sworn off men with kids, until she falls in love with Will and Jenny—and their father. Just when it seems than an HEA is within sight, a family crisis has Peyton involved in her ex’s life and Scott’s insecurities threatening the love he and Peyton are just beginning to discover.

I can almost guarantee that Carr fans will love her fifth Thunder point novel. Scott, as those who have read the earlier Thunder Point books will remember, is a genuinely nice guy, one of those beta heroes who manages to be steady and sweet without becoming bland and boring that Carr does so well. He’s also the kind of doctor we see too rarely in RL, one more concerned with his patients than his payment. And he is a devoted father. There are some endearing scenes between him and his children.

Peyton is a strong heroine who is remarkably clear-sighted about herself and others. Readers see her personal code at work when she goes to considerable trouble to help a young woman who worked at making Peyton’s life hell for the time Peyton and the girl’s father were together. Despite her compassion, Peyton can take a tough stand when she needs to so. I particularly appreciated that she responds to problems with action rather than passive acceptance.

A big part of Carr’s appeal is the verisimilitude of her settings. Thunder Point and its citizens capture readers’ hearts and imaginations, and each new book in a series allows them to return to a beloved place and revisit familiar friends. The Promise is no exception. Readers get not only a satisfying love story, but they also get to attend Devon and Spencer’s wedding, meet Sarah and Cooper’s new born, and see Al being a caring father to his foster sons. This time there is the added benefit of meeting Peyton’s large and lively Basque family. I hope to see more of them.

If you are a Robyn Carr fan, all I need to say is that this is another of the winners we expect from that extraordinarily consistent author. If you are a fan of small-town romances and haven’t read Carr, you are shortchanging yourself. She is the author whose Virgin River books were a major force in building small-town romance into a subgenre. If you like characters that you want to hug and share a cup of coffee—or a glass of wine—with, this book is for you. I’ve already read Thunder Point #6, The Homecoming, my 43^rd Carr novel (plus five novellas), and it too is a keeper. I wonder what 2015 has in store for Thunder Point and for Robyn Carr readers.

~Janga

Editor's Note:  If you haven't started reading Robyn Carr's Thunder Point series yet you can download the first book in the series, THE WANDERER for only $1.99 today for Kindle or Nook.

Review - - The Newcomer

The Newcomer
Thunder Point - Book 2
By Robyn Carr
Publisher: Harlequin Mira
Release Date: June 24, 2013

Say the words "small town romance" and one of the first authors that comes to my mind is Robyn Carr.  I first discovered her when the (original) cover of Virgin River captured my attention from the shelf of a local book store.  She leaped straight to my auto-buy list with that book and, while I've enjoyed some of her stories more than others, none of them has ever left me dissatisfied.  The Newcomer is the second book in Carr's new Thunder Point series set on the Oregon coast.  I'm already invested in the lives of the residents of this small coastal town and looking forward to many more visits to Thunder Point!

In The Newcomer, Hank Cooper, and Sarah Dupre begin to deepen the relationship they began in The Wanderer but there are obstacles to overcome. It appears that Cooper has finally stopped running and starts putting down roots at the same time that Sarah receives a promotional opportunity that will take her to the other side of the country.  As a Coast Guard search and rescue pilot, this is the chance for advancement that Sarah has been waiting for but accepting will not only endanger her relationship with Cooper, it will also have an impact on her younger brother, Landon, a star quarterback who would have to leave his team, his girlfriend and an excellent shot at a college scholarship to start over at a new school in his senior year.  Then a phone call from an ex-girlfriend sends Cooper's life in a direction he never anticipated.  Will all these changes bring Cooper and Sarah's relationship to an end just as it's gaining traction or will it strengthen the bond they've begun to form?

Single parents Mac McCain and Gina James have been close friends for many years.  Their daughters are best friends and the two have unofficially co-parented their respective children for a long time.  Just as they finally take the first steps into a deeper relationship, Mac's gorgeous ex-wife shows up out of the blue wanting to re-connect with the three children she abandoned when they were babies, sending Mac's family into turmoil and threatening his relationship with Gina.

It's not only the adults in Thunder Point who are having relationship issues.  Mac's daughter, Eve and Sarah's brother, Landon, rising high school seniors, grow closer and face the sexual "should we or shouldn't we" question that many teens have to deal with - a question that takes on new intensity with the reappearance of Eve's mother.  Eve loves Landon but knows only too well what can happen as a result of teenage sex as she was the reason her parents married too young.  And Gina's daughter, Ashley is having problems of her own. Her longtime boyfriend dumps her for a girl he meets at college and the new girlfriend uses social media to humiliate Ashley in a very public way...a humiliation that has potentially devastating consequences.

New characters are introduced, giving me just enough information about them to whet my appetite for their stories.  Hopefully, Carr will also continue to write stories that will allow me to experience the ebb and flow of the relationships between characters who have already secured places in my heart.

One of the aspects of Carr's writing that I most enjoy is the pace at which she builds the relationships in her books.  Those between Coop and Sarah, Mac and Gina, Landon and Eve and others are allowed to develop organically and while desire definitely plays an important part in the process, it's the friendship between each couple that gives me hope that their bonds will continue to strengthen over time, weathering the obstacles that life invariably throws our way.

For maximum enjoyment, I recommend reading the Thunder Point books in order beginning with The Wanderer followed by The Newcomer.  The third book in the series, The Hero will be released on August 27th.  I can't wait to find out what Carr has in store for Thunder Point's new high school football coach!

~PJ

Are you a fan of small town contemporary romance?  Have you read Robyn Carr's books?  Do you have a favorite?  Are you reading the Thunder Point series?