false 3440882 0778325733 9780778325734 212 45 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256070002m/3440882.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3440882.A_Virgin_River_Christmas 107767 Robyn Carr 2325 404 4 4 false Sun Nov 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 22:05:52 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 22:36:53 -0800 2008
It has been a year since the death of her husband, but Marcie Sullivan is just unable to move forward with her life. She feels that she needs closure that will come from locating her husband's best friend and former superior officer, Ian Buchanan. Four years ago, Ian risked his life to save Bobby in Iraq. Bobby suffered paralysis and extreme brain damage, and after one visit to Bobby four years ago, Ian broke off contact and disappeared. Marcie travels through numerous small California mountain towns in search of Ian after hearing that he is living as a hermit in the woods. Spending an entire month searching exhausts Marcie and her finances, but she finally finds Ian, who is extremely unfriendly and unwilling to talk to her. When he realizes that she is ill, Ian reluctantly takes Marcie in and cares for her. Ian feels that he did Bobby an injustice by saving his life only to sentence him to three years of total impairment, and he is unable to get past this. Ian has other issues that have helped to cause his reclusive behavior. As Marcie and Ian spend the enforced time together while she recovers, they get to know and care for one another. After they become intimately involved, Ian will have to decide if he is willing to risk being part of the world again in order to continue a relationship with Marcie.

This was an emotional, touching book. The reason I did not like this book quite as much as the others in the series is that it did not have enough closure for me. I felt that Ian still had too much doubt about himself and whether he could have a successful relationship with Marcie. I would also have liked to see the story continue enough to give some idea of what Ian planned to do with his future. I hope that the next books will give a little more information about what is happening to Ian and Marcie. It was wonderful to read a bit more about the Virgin River characters from the previous books of this great series.

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