Review of Temptation Ridge (Virgin River #6) by Robyn Carr
Temptation Ridge is the sixth book in the series Virgin River.
Shelby spent five years caring for her mother who had ALS, and after her mother's passing, she's finally ready to start her adult life. At twenty-five, she's behind on normal life experiences, and has never had a serious relationship. As she goes to stay with her uncle in Virgin River, the general Walt, it's only a temporary stop before she dives into life goals. Until she meets Luke.
Luke Riordan is a retired Blackhawk pilot who is in Virgin River to fix up a property he bought with his brother with the intention to immediately sell. He has no ideas of romance, and limits himself to one-night stands or meaningless flings. Until he meets Shelby. He's too old for her, too experienced, and she's just too tempting.
On paper, they're all wrong for each other. But in person, they just can't stay away. Sometimes what you want and what you need are two very different things.
This is probably my favorite book so far in the series. I loved the subplots that fed into the larger one. I loved the continuation of Walt and Muriel's relationship, the entrance of an unconventional start to a relationship, and a man who stumbles into Luke's care. All of it made for a delightful story on top of the main romance of the book. Colorful side characters and wonderful main characters.
I found Shelby to be not as reserved as I expected her to be, but the reason made sense. She was sheltered but not necessarily overly innocent. I liked the way she took charge and pursued Luke. There was a depth to her character I liked, though more would have rounded her out better. Luke had more depth to him than Shelby. His enormously painful romantic past made his behavior with women make sense, but I thought he'd held onto that pain for an awfully long time. It takes too long for him to admit to himself how he feels about Shelby, and it was one of the wonderful frustrations of reading the story. His subplot with his new ward was beautiful. I liked them both and their story was touching.
As always, I find Robyn Carr's description wanting. I did have a fairly good picture of Luke's house and cabins on the property he owns, and Walt's home has gotten fairly clear, though she didn't renew that description in this book which I believe is a mistake. She tends to only give generals in a description and leave the reader to populate the rest. My problem is I have aphantasia, which means I can't picture in my mind what I read. If the author doesn't spell it out, I have no idea what places look like because it's impossible for me to create my own image. The only images I can create in my mind are the ones I pull directly from my imagination as I write. So, light description like this is difficult for me. I prefer detailed description.
The dialog was wonderful, though there was a little cheese. Most of it worked well in the story and didn't stick out much. The characters all speak somewhat similarly with occasional differences in the way they word things.
Overall, I loved the book and found it to be a wonderful addition to the series. I can't wait for book seven!
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