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Dec 22, 2010

Whitaker added it

This is Part II of my Defence of the Romance Novel. Part I is here, and if you want to know why I feel compelled to do this, well, take a look here. And just for NGE because she means so much to me:

Here I want to talk about quality of writing. To do this, I'm going to have to compare two extracts.

Extract 1

A fierce and unseasonably cold September wind blew chilly rain against the windows. Preacher wiped down the bar, and while it was only seven-thirty, it was already dark

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9 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 31, 2009

Shawna rated it:

5+ stars – Contemporary Romance

This second book in the Virgin River series about a rustic small town with a population of roughly 600 people finds ex-marine John “Preacher” Middleton, a mountain of a man, providing shelter in more ways than one for an abused wife on the run with her three-year-old son.

When Paige seeks refuge from a storm in Virgin River’s local tavern while passing through town with her son Christopher, Preacher immediately recognizes that she’s a trouble More...

8 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2011

FlibBityFLooB rated it:

I had lots of mixed feelings when reading this book, so I thought I would break down my review by my opinions on the good and the bad.

The Good:
- Abuse is a hard topic to swallow when reading a novel, and this book was no exception to that. I always admire authors that step outside the happy-happy-joy-joy topics found in so many books in Romancelandia. I believe that Robyn Carr did a decent job with the heroine in this book facing demons in the form of an abusive ex-husband More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 03, 2008

Isis FG rated it:

Spent most of today reading this book since there wasn't anything else to do (except laundry), and because it hooked me in pretty quick. I love Preacher. Such a great character; the kind of guy I think a lot of women would be glad to have.

Picking up Shelter Mountain after reading Virgin River is kinda like going home and seeing old friends again. I loved that Carr didn't relegate Mel and Jack to the background in this book. They had actual POV scenes which I thought really enhanc More...

5 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2010

Pamela rated it:

I hate myself. I read this entire book in a few big gulps rather than working on the novel that is already late to New York. Go me.

Why? Well, for starters, I've gotten really attached to the whole damned town of Virgin River. I had to see what would happen to Mel and Jack and Preacher and Paige and their buddy Mike and poor Rick and Liz.

The book weaves together all of these couples and their story lines, and it's told from a myriad of perspectives. So while the story os More...

13 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2010

willaful rated it:

I've officially broken up with Robyn Carr, but you know how it is with exes... sometimes you just find yourself involved again against your better judgement. And sometimes it even works. This was by far my favorite of the series.

Right before reading this, I had been reading a couple of Linda Howard's "Mackenzie" series, and found myself wondering if anyone had ever written a romance hero who had never experienced real sexual interest til being awakened by the heroine. And t More...

14 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2008

Christa rated it:

What a wonderful series so far! It just made me feel good to read the first two books. Shelter Mountain, the second of the series, had so much to offer. It was emotional and heartfelt. I really love the way that the characters from the first book played such a large role in Shelter Mountain. The story was every bit as much about Jack and Mel Sheridan from the first book, Virgin River, as it was about Preacher and Paige, who were portrayed as the main characters in the book synopsis. The con More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Michelle rated it:

This book was a little more intense than the first book of the series but I loved it! One thing I really liked is how you see all the characters from the first book and I do hope it continues throughout the rest of the series. I just love Mel and Jack and I'm glad I was able to read more about them in this book!

As for Paige and Preacher, they are just as loveable! Preacher looks tough and scary on the outside but he's just a big & shy guy with a big heart. When Paige, all bruised up More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Laura rated it:

2nd in the Virgin River series.
After reading the first book, I was excited to keep reading the series.

Preacher is Jack's partner in the bar--a big, burly, scary-looking guy that plans on being a bachelor for life. He really is a big teddy bear, but he knows he looks scary and people stay away from him for that reason. One night while getting ready to close up the bar, in walks a beautiful young woman holding a little boy. It is obvious a fist has recently been in contact More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2007

Dev rated it:

I enjoyed seeing a new side to Preacher. His protective friendship with Paige was heartwarming; and his paternal relationship with Paige’s son, Chris, was very moving. I loved the pacing of their story and watching the gradual transition from friendship into something more.

Unlike Virgin River, this story caught my interest from the very beginning and I read it non-stop. Also unlike Virgin River, this story didn’t seem to focus just on the main protagonists. This story embodied a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2011

TJ rated it:

This is the first time a Beta male has actually stolen my heart! John ("Preacher") is as close to a real life perfect man as it gets! Big, huge, muscly, ex-military, who is quiet, devoted, doesn't care to sleep around, cooks, cleans, is somewhat shy but very affectionate and protective - sigh...... We get to watch him as he befriends, then falls in love with a young mother who is running away from a very abusive husband. The storyline isn't particularly original and most of More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2007

Kathrynn rated it:

Book #2 in the Virgin River series and this series MUST be read in order as the characters develop more as the series progresses.

I like this authors writing style because she doesn't just focus on the two main characters, there aren't any flashforwards, backwards...sideways (what a relief). There aren't any mystical powers, werewolves, vampires and sometimes I just get tired of reading about that, too. Her transitions between scenes are very well done, her characters seem like nor More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2011

Laurie rated it:

John "Preacher" Middleton is about to close the bar when a young woman and her three-year-old son come in out of the wet October night. A marine who has seen his share of pain, Preacher knows a crisis when he sees one—the woman is covered in bruises. He wants to protect them, and he wants to punish whoever did this to her, but he knows immediately that this inclination to protect is something much more. Paige Lassiter has stirred up emotions in this gentle giant of a man—emotions that More...

0 comments like

Sep 01, 2011

Nancy rated it:

I am not usually a women’s fiction reader, but occasionally a book or series will come along that just grabs me. The Virgin River series by Robyn Carr has grabbed me from the first book.

Yes, there is romance, but not the bodice ripping kind that sets my teeth on edge, just a nice meet a new person fall in love kind of romance that builds around the storyline and does not seem to jump out of nowhere catching you completely off guard.

However, like most romances, the male ch More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 27, 2011

Babyfishmouth rated it:

This is the second book in her Virgin River series and I didn't enjoy it very much. I had hoped that each book would be somewhat stand-alone but there are numerous chapters devoted to the couple from the first book. Also numerous chapters devoted to a couple of teenagers introduced in the first book. I found their romance in that one distasteful (a 14 year old girl and a 17 year old boy? yuck!) and I started skipping every section devoted to them. And can you believe it? Even more chapters dev More...

1 comment like

Feb 11, 2011

Suzanne rated it:

Shelter Mountain, Book 2 in Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series and the fifth book in this series I’ve read, is, so far, my favorite. Once again we are reacquainted with the characters from Book 1–Jack and Mel Sheridan, Jack’s large and gregarious family, his Marine Corps buddies, Dr. John Stone and the irascible “Doc” with whom Mel works. But this is primarily quiet, shy, John Middletown’s story–Preacher, as he is known to his friends.

One night Paige Lassiter and her small son Christop More...

0 comments like

May 19, 2010

Crista rated it:

Welcome to Virgin River Book#2. This one is something special and is one that will test your emotional endurance.

John "Preacher" Middleton was introduced to us in Virgin River (the first book in this series). He is Jack's best-friend, ex-military, a quiet giant of a man with a heart as big as his body. One rainy night he is alone in the town bar that he co-owns with his best-friend and a woman and a small boy come through. Paige is a battered woman on the run from her husb More...

0 comments like

Mar 08, 2010

Rhapsody rated it:

Not a very well-written book, but enjoyable for anyone who likes the abused heroine (in this case a battered wife on the run) theme.

Paige was raised in a verbally and emotionally abusive household. She managed to get away for a time, working as a beautician and living with two close, strong-willed female friends, but eventually married Wes. Wes was handsome and wealthy, but physically abusive of her even before they got married. He was indifferent to their child Christopher and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2010

Zosia rated it:

And the women’s health lesson continues

There was a lot to like in this book, and just as much to dislike.

The premise drew me in right away – battered wife on the run, war hero in small town determined to help her. But the thing with Robyn Carr’s writing is that she always devotes the first half of her books to the ‘leading’ couple, and then seems to forget about them. You can go for dozens of pages without hearing anything about them.
As such, the relationship More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2009

Kath rated it:

Really liked the first book in this series, but the second one is even better. Love the small town feel of this book and the sense of family. You still have Jack and Mel and central characters from this book, but we also now hear more about the bar's co-ower and his former Marine friend, Preacher. A man who's really almost described as a gentle giant. Paige shows up one night with her son, running from her abusive husband. Preacher sets her up with a place to stay and a relationship develop More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 29, 2009

LeAnn rated it:

Shelter Mountain brings Paige Lassiter, an abused wife on the lam, to Virgin River. Lucky for her (and for us romance readers), there are more than enough gentlemanly ex-marines living in Virgin River. Paige, who is trying to escape her husband and adopt a new identity with her three-year-old son, finds her protector in John "Preacher" Middleton. Carr created an unusual take on the romantic hero in Preacher, a gentle bald giant who wears an earring and Marine tattoos and cooks. Of cour More...

0 comments like

Feb 07, 2011

Jamie rated it:

Why I decided to read this book: I signed up to try to win a copy of Promise Canyon on Goodreads and I decided to start at the beginning of the series so that book 11 would makes sense to me. I was also able to download the first 4 books of the series on to my Nook as a book bundle! :)

Likes?.....: I really liked Preacher. He's a big ole burly badass former Marine who doesn't think that he's capable of loving or being loved. I also enjoyed Paige and Chris who bring out the best and More...

0 comments like

Jan 10, 2010

Beanbag rated it:

I'm not really going to review this one too much. It's good. The story is very engaging and hard to put down. I think this series would be better described as a 'serial'. It's like a soap opera. There's been a romance in each of the first two books, but so many other stories are being told that it's like watching an ongoing, multi-threaded show. Hence my likening it to a soap opera.

Not that I'm disappointed in that. I'm enjoying it very much. I had a very hard time not just More...

7 comments like (14 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2011

Nymphetamosa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Oct 20, 2009

Edna Lyn rated it:

This was such a good one! I got lost reading about these characters. I have a lot to comment on so I'll just dive in...

Preacher's just a big, shy teddy bear! He's so incredibly endearing. Paige and Chris were exactly what he needed in his life. Their romance was very sweet and tender...Preacher was such a gentleman and cared for her so much, it made me sigh lol.

I liked reading about Preacher and Jack. There was a flashback where Preacher broke down out in a warzone and More...

0 comments like

Dec 01, 2009

Ronica rated it:

It's a dark and rainy night in Virgin River most of the residents are snuggled in for the night. John "Preacher" Middleton is closing uo the bar for the night when the door opens and Paige Lassiter and he young son Christopher wander in.

Preacher knows something is amiss when he sees that Paige is covered in brusies, he feels this instant need to shelter not only Paige but her young son.

The more time he spends with his ready made family, there he starts realize More...

7 comments like

Nov 18, 2011

Kellie rated it:

Really glad I stumbled across this series at my local library. The 2nd book was even better than the first.

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2010

Pam rated it:

So far I am enjoying how loving Preacher is being to Paige and her son.

I am enjoying Preacher and his gentle quiet spirit with Paige. I do wish he would get a little more aggressive with her. I'm sure it's coming.....

Well Preacher finally got aggressive with the help from Mike urging him on. He was soooo sweet and loving and giving to Paige and to little Christopher. I loved how he would trudge up the stairs to go read Chirstopher his bedtime story every night. I cou More...

2 comments like

Aug 07, 2010

Ruth rated it:

Shelter Mountain is the second book in the series. John (a/k/a Preacher) is one of the partners who owns the local tavern/restaurant. One nasty rainy night after everyone has left, but before he shut off the sign, a woman shows up with a nasty bruise on her face and a split lip. She also has a three year old son. She is obviously on the run and he suspects that she really didn't slam the car door on her face. He is a big tough-looking ex-Marine with a heart of gold. She's a battered wife o More...

0 comments like

Oct 15, 2011

Sho rated it:

I really would love to explain to you well why I find this series so lovable and enjoyable. I just cannot. It might be that the stories of the characters in the series are not too dramatic nor fantasitical, or that the characters are all decent people, except for some villians. It might be that through Ms. Carr's warm writing the love she feels for people in general comes through. Or like me you want to live in this little town called Virgin Rivers, somewhere in Northern Californina and is l More...

0 comments like

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