Healing Hearts

A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr is a delightful contemporary festive offering. It is the fourth book in the Virgin River series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed my return visit to Virgin River and greeting old and new faces.

Virgin River is a town with a huge heart. It is a place where the hurting can seek refuge from the world. The community care helps to heal souls. It is no surprise that this is a place that attracts war veterans who want to escape the world.

War damages people, physically and mentally. Guilt looms large when you survive what kills your comrades. The scars run deep. A veteran torments himself with what he believes loved ones are thinking but nothing could be further from the truth. Damaged souls need to heal.

The characters are delightfully drawn and realistic. I loved the verbal volleys between the leading characters. There were some highly amusing exchanges too.

The town of Virgin River pulls together as needs are identified. Strangers are welcomed as Christmas is celebrated. Such is the power of Robyn Carr’s words that as she described the scene where O Holy Night is sung, I got goose bumps.

Within the book there is a physical rescue. The reader is reminded that sometimes in life we need mentally rescuing from our situations.

I am loving my time spent in Virgin River. The community is warm and open. I look forward to reading more books in this nineteen (so far) book series.

A word of caution: there are some ‘bedroom’ scenes with too much detail for me to be comfortable so I just skipped over these pages. It did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON