Review of Harvest Moon (Virgin River #13) by Robyn Carr

Harvest Moon is the thirteenth book in the series Virgin River.

Kelly Matlock, a rising sous-chef, has an unexpected collapse at work, prompting a need for rest and re-evaluation. She retreats to her sister Jillian's house in Virgin River to consider her future. What she doesn't expect is meeting Leif Holbrook.

Leif has recently moved from L.A., a widower with custody of his rebellious stepdaughter. He looks more like a lumberjack than a successful screenwriter, something that intrigues Kelly. Leif hopes his stepdaughter Courtney will settle her rebellious nature in Virgin River, but she seems to be finding trouble there, too.

Kelly has never dated a guy with that much baggage, but it can't be worse than her job in San Francisco. Right?

I really enjoyed this book. In reading a series, I always love seeing close groups of people, like siblings, connecting within the series, like with the Riordan brothers in this series--I was excited to discover book eighteen is about the final brother--and the Foley siblings from A Virgin River Christmas, Moonlight Road, and Midnight Confessions. So here reading about the second Matlock sister was lovely.

Kelly was a wonderful character, and I found her a little more layered than many of the other characters in the series. Her relationship with a star chef was interesting, and I found myself interested to learn more about her, not just to see what would happen between her and Leif.

Leif was interesting as well, but not as layered as Kelly. I admired his dedication to Courtney and his efforts to give her a well-rounded childhood despite her best efforts to not have what he tried to give her. His love for her was touching, and I adored him for it.

Courtney was a lot of fun to read about. The changes she underwent as she spent time in Virgin River were wonderful, but I really felt for her as she tried her best to protect her relationship with Leif. Her birth father was a real piece of work, and after losing her mother, I understood why she was so protective of Leif.

The story was sweet and filled with ups and downs. I found it to be a bit more of a page-turner than other Virgin River books. So many of the side characters unique to this book were interesting and fed beautifully into the plot. Then the mix of Virgin River residents into the romance between Kelly and Leif made the story even better.

Yet another wonderful addition to the series!

Photo Credit: Torsten Dettlaff

Stars Image Credit: lovethenerddesigns