Book Binge

Shelby MacIntyre has big plans — plans that include finding Mr. Right. Her dream man will have a clean-shaven jaw, creases in his pants and hopefully an advanced degree. What she gets is rugged Luke Riordan.

At twenty-five, after five years as her mother's caregiver, it's time for Shelby to experience freedom and adventure. Time for travel, college and romance. But when she visits Virgin River, she runs into Luke Riordan, decidedly not whom she has in mind.
A handsome Blackhawk pilot, Luke exited the army after twenty years, four wars and having been shot out of the sky three times. At thirty-eight he's tough and jaded. His major was in one-night stands, with a minor in commitment avoidance.

Technically, these two are all wrong for one another. But sometimes what you want and what you need are two different things...two very good things.

I liked Temptation Ridge much better than Second Chance Pass. Even though Second Chance Pass was a good book, it was lacking something that I’ve come to expect from the Virgin River series. I’m sure it has a lot to do with Vanni. Temptation Ridge really showed everything that I love about Virgin River.

It’s been seven years since Luke Riordan was in Virgin River. After buying some cabins along the river, the time has finally come for Luke to return and figure out what he’s going to do with them. He’s not quite sure what to expect from Virgin River, or even if he’ll stay. After 20 years in the army, Luke takes pleasure in the serenity of Virgin River. Though he never expected to find a home there, that is exactly what he has found.

Shelby MacIntyre is what you would call an old soul. After caring for her terminal mother for five years, Shelby only now has a chance to start living her life at twenty five. When she meets Luke, she’s instantly drawn to him. Still, Luke has some hang-ups (many hang-ups) over their age difference and what he thinks she needs. Shelby is determined to show Luke (and herself) that all she wants to do is live life to its fullest, which means going after what she wants.

Shelby was an amazing heroine. She was like the paragon of good. She was almost too good, but I didn’t think about that while I was reading the book. She explained time and time again that caring for her mother was not a sacrifice. She took joy in those final years. I think that’s what I liked best about her. She was selfless. She never once regretted taking care of her mom. And now that her time with her mom is over, she’s going to live. I admired her attitude about life. Her determination was what made her as good of a heroine as she was.

Luke was kind of a pain in the ass. I understand the age difference between 25 and 38 is big. But when you have someone like Shelby, it’s not as big as it seems. So it was annoying that Luke kept fixating on the age difference. Later in the book it comes to light why Luke was so wary to trust that Shelby knew what she wanted, but at the time it was just like “enough already”.

Even though the main love story was between Luke and Shelby, Temptation Ridge yet again shows the greatness of Virgin River. This is a town that I want to live in. They come together when it’s needed and they’re there for each other no matter what it takes. It’s still amazing to me how Robyn Carr has written this series that can be so emotionally touching.

My biggest complaint about the book is Vanni and Nikki’s friend, Abby. After she gets pregnant by a character that was first introduced in Second Chance Pass, she makes an executive decision to not tell him. It was a one night stand and she is not going to take the chance that he could be a bad guy. OMG. It wasn’t even so much that as much as what if she didn’t like him after she told him? Then she’d be stuck with him. That didn’t go over very well with me. At all.

Abby is about the only complaint I have with this book. The rest of it was just what I’ve come to expect from Robyn Carr. I can’t wait to read Paradise Valley.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from Mira. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series:

Share this post!