What do you think?
Rate this book
Virgin River #12
Wild Man Creek
Welcome back to VIRGIN RIVER with the books that started it all…
Sometimes love takes root in unexpected places—if you'll only let it grow
Colin Riordan came to Virgin River to recuperate from a horrific helicopter crash, the scars of which he bears inside and out. His family is wonderfully supportive, but it's his art that truly soothes his troubled soul.
Stung personally and professionally by an ill-advised affair, PR guru Jillian Matlock has rented an old Victorian with a promising garden in Virgin River. She's looking forward to cultivating something other than a corporate brand.
Both are looking to simplify, not complicate, their lives, but when Jillian finds Colin at his easel in her yard, there's an instant connection. And in Virgin River, sometimes love is the simplest choice of all…
Sometimes love takes root in unexpected places—if you'll only let it grow
Colin Riordan came to Virgin River to recuperate from a horrific helicopter crash, the scars of which he bears inside and out. His family is wonderfully supportive, but it's his art that truly soothes his troubled soul.
Stung personally and professionally by an ill-advised affair, PR guru Jillian Matlock has rented an old Victorian with a promising garden in Virgin River. She's looking forward to cultivating something other than a corporate brand.
Both are looking to simplify, not complicate, their lives, but when Jillian finds Colin at his easel in her yard, there's an instant connection. And in Virgin River, sometimes love is the simplest choice of all…
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 25, 2011
2563 people are currently reading
9473 people want to read
About the author
Robyn Carr
161 books12.6k followers Robyn Carr is a RITA® Award-winning, eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of over sixty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River series and Sullivan's Crossing series. Robyn's new women's fiction novel, THE FRIENDSHIP CLUB, will be released in January 2024. The new hit Sullivan's Crossing TV series (season 1) inspired by Robyn's book series was released in the USA in the fall of 2023! Plus, season 5 of the worldwide fan-favorite Virgin River TV Series is now streaming on Netflix (July 2023) with two holiday episodes coming November 30, 2023. Both TV series have been renewed for another season!
Robyn is a recipient of the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, and in 2017, VIRGIN RIVER was named one of the HarperCollins 200 Iconic Books of the past 200 years. Robyn currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can visit Robyn Carr's website at https://www.robyncarr.com/.
Robyn is a recipient of the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, and in 2017, VIRGIN RIVER was named one of the HarperCollins 200 Iconic Books of the past 200 years. Robyn currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can visit Robyn Carr's website at https://www.robyncarr.com/.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 823 reviews
January 11, 2011
Superb! Made me bawl like a baby at the end.:) I got an ARC of this one from NetGalley, and I plowed through it in one day (haven't done that with a book in a looong time). After reading Promise Canyon and adoring it, I doubted that Robyn Carr could top it--or at least equal it. But she did! This one is in the top three of my favorites of the series (the others being Virgin River and Temptation Ridge). There's just something about those Riordan men...
This is Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot "Wild Man" Colin Riordan's story (second oldest of the Riordan brothers). Colin (40) was in a copter crash, severely injured, ended up in rehab, then became hooked on painkillers, and was caught trying to buy pain meds on the street. Luckily with his brothers' help (or interference as he sometimes sees it), he got the help he needed--but now he's out of the military, unable to fly any more, and has retreated to Virgin River (brother Luke's place) for some R&R while he figures out his next move. Colin has an incredible talent for painting wildlife (it may beome a career when he's done with flying), and he rents a cabin in the woods so he can snap some pics of wildlife which he then references when he paints. One day while painting out in a meadow he meets up with Jillian Matlock (32), a former PR exec for a software company who's in VR on sabbatical from her high pressure job. Jill's getting over a humiliating breakup with a boyfriend who used her in a terrible way, shattering her trust and judgment in men and practically wrecking her career. Jill's renting the old Victorian mansion that belonged to Hope McCrea, with plans to use the extensive gardens to grow heirloom fruits and vegetables just like the great-grandmother who raised her did. If things work out in the next 6 months, maybe Jill will start her own business.
Jill and Colin hit it off as friends. Neither is looking for a relationship (Colin keeps telling himself that 'girl-next-door' Jilly is not the type he usually dates), but the more time they spend together (he uses her property when he wants to paint outdoors), the more they are attracted to each other. They finally decide to act on that attraction, although both are up front about their affair only being for a set amount of time. Colin is heading to Africa in September to photograph big game and to check into a flying career there (he's not ready yet to give up the adrenaline rush he gets from flying), and Jilly has only 6 months in Hope's house before she has to decide if she's going back to her old job or will forge a new path. So the affair starts with an end date in sight, and Colin and Jilly make the most of their time together. (Jeez were they hot together--and sooo perfect for each other, too. And their first time up on the roof? Scorching.) Of course you know they're going to fall in love--but will either admit it? Will either be willing to change their future plans?
Oh my, did I enjoy this one. It just pushed all my buttons. First of all, I just adored Jilly. Rarely does Robyn Carr give you a perfect heroine (in fact, a lot of readers have issues with some of her heroines), but Jilly was just a generous spirit, totally unselfish (she wants Colin to have all that he thinks he needs), smart, a real go-getter, a sometime quirky, sometimes funny charmer--I just loved how she really got to Colin. Now Colin, he had his moments where I wasn't thrilled with him (he was kind of prickly when it came to older brother Luke handing out advice to him); he was used to doing things his own way and I wasn't sure if he had it in him to be unselfish and put somebody first besides himself. He had a lot of growing to do. But make no mistake--he adored Jilly and showed her time and again. *****spoiler ahead****But when he left Jilly at the end of the book to go to Africa (just like he said he would), I felt like he was leaving me! I just about died right along with Jilly.:( How could he leave?! But have no fear--RC made the right decision to have him leave. You knew the devastated Jilly wouldn't stay down for long. And you knew eventually Colin (like his brothers predicted) would come to his senses. Oh, but the agony that RC puts the reader through!*****end spoiler****
The author hints that Jilly looks like this well-known actress..
Besides this main plot, Ms. Carr gives us some very worthy subplots too:
*we find out who is the father of young ex-Marine Denny Cutler. This plot and the character of Denny gets a few chapters in the book. Denny is a great character, and I hope one day he gets his own book.
*one of the older inhabitants of VR seems to have Alzheimer's disease. We get to see how the town reacts and what the family does about it.
* We learn more about Jilly's sous-chef sister Kelly, and learn what she's been hiding about her love life from Jilly...
*The Riordan family (and Jilly) attend Aiden's wedding in Chico. Colin and Jilly have some hot moments in their hotel room before the wedding...
* We see the extent of the sibling rivalry and love/hate relationship between Luke and Colin. Luke has a few busybody moments which remind me of Jack Sheridan...:)
*We briefly meet the hero (widower Lief) for the next book in the series (Harvest Moon), and wonder how any woman will be able to put up with his bratty teenage daughter...
This book was just about perfect for me. The only thing I wished for (as I was blubbering through the last chapters, was more of an ending. While I loved the very emotional finale, I was dying for a bit of an epilogue. Perhaps I'll get what I'm looking for in Harvest Moon? Other than that minor disappointment--o-u-t-s-t-a-n-d-i-n-g! 5 BIG stars!
This is Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot "Wild Man" Colin Riordan's story (second oldest of the Riordan brothers). Colin (40) was in a copter crash, severely injured, ended up in rehab, then became hooked on painkillers, and was caught trying to buy pain meds on the street. Luckily with his brothers' help (or interference as he sometimes sees it), he got the help he needed--but now he's out of the military, unable to fly any more, and has retreated to Virgin River (brother Luke's place) for some R&R while he figures out his next move. Colin has an incredible talent for painting wildlife (it may beome a career when he's done with flying), and he rents a cabin in the woods so he can snap some pics of wildlife which he then references when he paints. One day while painting out in a meadow he meets up with Jillian Matlock (32), a former PR exec for a software company who's in VR on sabbatical from her high pressure job. Jill's getting over a humiliating breakup with a boyfriend who used her in a terrible way, shattering her trust and judgment in men and practically wrecking her career. Jill's renting the old Victorian mansion that belonged to Hope McCrea, with plans to use the extensive gardens to grow heirloom fruits and vegetables just like the great-grandmother who raised her did. If things work out in the next 6 months, maybe Jill will start her own business.
Jill and Colin hit it off as friends. Neither is looking for a relationship (Colin keeps telling himself that 'girl-next-door' Jilly is not the type he usually dates), but the more time they spend together (he uses her property when he wants to paint outdoors), the more they are attracted to each other. They finally decide to act on that attraction, although both are up front about their affair only being for a set amount of time. Colin is heading to Africa in September to photograph big game and to check into a flying career there (he's not ready yet to give up the adrenaline rush he gets from flying), and Jilly has only 6 months in Hope's house before she has to decide if she's going back to her old job or will forge a new path. So the affair starts with an end date in sight, and Colin and Jilly make the most of their time together. (Jeez were they hot together--and sooo perfect for each other, too. And their first time up on the roof? Scorching.) Of course you know they're going to fall in love--but will either admit it? Will either be willing to change their future plans?
Oh my, did I enjoy this one. It just pushed all my buttons. First of all, I just adored Jilly. Rarely does Robyn Carr give you a perfect heroine (in fact, a lot of readers have issues with some of her heroines), but Jilly was just a generous spirit, totally unselfish (she wants Colin to have all that he thinks he needs), smart, a real go-getter, a sometime quirky, sometimes funny charmer--I just loved how she really got to Colin. Now Colin, he had his moments where I wasn't thrilled with him (he was kind of prickly when it came to older brother Luke handing out advice to him); he was used to doing things his own way and I wasn't sure if he had it in him to be unselfish and put somebody first besides himself. He had a lot of growing to do. But make no mistake--he adored Jilly and showed her time and again. *****spoiler ahead****But when he left Jilly at the end of the book to go to Africa (just like he said he would), I felt like he was leaving me! I just about died right along with Jilly.:( How could he leave?! But have no fear--RC made the right decision to have him leave. You knew the devastated Jilly wouldn't stay down for long. And you knew eventually Colin (like his brothers predicted) would come to his senses. Oh, but the agony that RC puts the reader through!*****end spoiler****
The author hints that Jilly looks like this well-known actress..
Besides this main plot, Ms. Carr gives us some very worthy subplots too:
*we find out who is the father of young ex-Marine Denny Cutler. This plot and the character of Denny gets a few chapters in the book. Denny is a great character, and I hope one day he gets his own book.
*one of the older inhabitants of VR seems to have Alzheimer's disease. We get to see how the town reacts and what the family does about it.
* We learn more about Jilly's sous-chef sister Kelly, and learn what she's been hiding about her love life from Jilly...
*The Riordan family (and Jilly) attend Aiden's wedding in Chico. Colin and Jilly have some hot moments in their hotel room before the wedding...
* We see the extent of the sibling rivalry and love/hate relationship between Luke and Colin. Luke has a few busybody moments which remind me of Jack Sheridan...:)
*We briefly meet the hero (widower Lief) for the next book in the series (Harvest Moon), and wonder how any woman will be able to put up with his bratty teenage daughter...
This book was just about perfect for me. The only thing I wished for (as I was blubbering through the last chapters, was more of an ending. While I loved the very emotional finale, I was dying for a bit of an epilogue. Perhaps I'll get what I'm looking for in Harvest Moon? Other than that minor disappointment--o-u-t-s-t-a-n-d-i-n-g! 5 BIG stars!
December 29, 2016
This was not my favorite. Maybe because I thought that the romance between the two leads (Jillian Matlock and Colin Riordan) was a foregone conclusion, so reading about how Jillian was being so strong and whatever made me roll my eyes. Or maybe I just read too many of these books back to back and it put me in a mood. Hard to know. I love romance novels. Absolutely adore them. But I think I can pinpoint that right around this book or the next I started to see a slide in the series and I was pretty disappointed with the next couple of ones and then the last book in the series.
There is honestly not much to say here except I thought the whole thing that brings Jillian to Virgin River was dancing towards absurd, and her new chosen profession (decides she will start to do an organic farm) came out of nowhere and did not fit her at all. Jillian is a Vice President for Corporate Communications for a software manufacturer and due to a workplace harassment issue, is cautioned to take some time off while her boss/mentor deals with it. Yeah. Like that would really happen. I bring up Jillian’s job though because I had a hard time reconciling what she does with her later decision to start an organic farm.
I also think that Carr honestly rushed the resolution to Jillian’s backstory and I pretty much rolled my eyes at the guy who shows up (and acts like an ass by the way) since how did he get there, why would he be stupid to do so based on everything that went before, etc. I think it was just a way to have Colin punch the guy or something. I don’t know. It just didn’t work with the story that I think Carr wanted to tell.
Also, I really have a hard time believing that in a matter of weeks that Jillian can just have an organic farm up and running. Apparently Virgin River has magic soil. And I really didn’t get why Jack Sheridan who is renting the house to Jillian is okay with her gardening as much as she is in a house she doesn’t own. Hey I have rented homes before, you can of course ask the homeowner about certain things, but I have never lived in one place that was all yes of course you can grow whatever you want and totally change the grounds.
Colin and his family drove me batty. Maybe because Luke Riordan decides he will be the twin of Jack Sheridan and stick his nose in where it’s not wanted or needed. I was also really tired of the women coming along to have sensible talks with these idiots. It gets old after a while and I know that I was 100 percent sick of it.
Unlike in previous books I don’t think that Carr had much knowledge about painting/gardening. Colin starts painting and apparently is such a great painter/photographer that he can sell his works for thousands of dollars. Jillian is somehow going to turn her farm into a million dollar enterprise though she and only one other person works the grounds? I can’t even recall how many acres Jillian has, but I maybe muttered BS a few times while reading this.
We have a reappearance of Jillian’s sister (who will be in the next book) and of course other characters we have become familiar with. I totally booed the entire story-line with Jack Sheridan and Denny Cutler. It made absolutely no sense, and then towards the end we have Denny throwing out a line about something that made me go wait a minute, what? I think it was an editing error that no one caught, but it bugged me endlessly.
The ending was too much and I really hated the whole woman who is grieving because she told her man to go off and do what he needed to be happy. I was just really over both of them. The romance was so-so and I was happy that the book finally ended.
There is honestly not much to say here except I thought the whole thing that brings Jillian to Virgin River was dancing towards absurd, and her new chosen profession (decides she will start to do an organic farm) came out of nowhere and did not fit her at all. Jillian is a Vice President for Corporate Communications for a software manufacturer and due to a workplace harassment issue, is cautioned to take some time off while her boss/mentor deals with it. Yeah. Like that would really happen. I bring up Jillian’s job though because I had a hard time reconciling what she does with her later decision to start an organic farm.
I also think that Carr honestly rushed the resolution to Jillian’s backstory and I pretty much rolled my eyes at the guy who shows up (and acts like an ass by the way) since how did he get there, why would he be stupid to do so based on everything that went before, etc. I think it was just a way to have Colin punch the guy or something. I don’t know. It just didn’t work with the story that I think Carr wanted to tell.
Also, I really have a hard time believing that in a matter of weeks that Jillian can just have an organic farm up and running. Apparently Virgin River has magic soil. And I really didn’t get why Jack Sheridan who is renting the house to Jillian is okay with her gardening as much as she is in a house she doesn’t own. Hey I have rented homes before, you can of course ask the homeowner about certain things, but I have never lived in one place that was all yes of course you can grow whatever you want and totally change the grounds.
Colin and his family drove me batty. Maybe because Luke Riordan decides he will be the twin of Jack Sheridan and stick his nose in where it’s not wanted or needed. I was also really tired of the women coming along to have sensible talks with these idiots. It gets old after a while and I know that I was 100 percent sick of it.
Unlike in previous books I don’t think that Carr had much knowledge about painting/gardening. Colin starts painting and apparently is such a great painter/photographer that he can sell his works for thousands of dollars. Jillian is somehow going to turn her farm into a million dollar enterprise though she and only one other person works the grounds? I can’t even recall how many acres Jillian has, but I maybe muttered BS a few times while reading this.
We have a reappearance of Jillian’s sister (who will be in the next book) and of course other characters we have become familiar with. I totally booed the entire story-line with Jack Sheridan and Denny Cutler. It made absolutely no sense, and then towards the end we have Denny throwing out a line about something that made me go wait a minute, what? I think it was an editing error that no one caught, but it bugged me endlessly.
The ending was too much and I really hated the whole woman who is grieving because she told her man to go off and do what he needed to be happy. I was just really over both of them. The romance was so-so and I was happy that the book finally ended.
March 5, 2022
3,5 stars
The Virgin River series was very much an in-medias-res for me. I started at book 13 which I liked and despite there being 12 other books before, it read easily as a standalone. I perused through the blurbs of all previous books and ended up choosing book 12, Wild Man Creek as my next read. Once again, no problem with getting into it.
I really appreciate how Robyn Carr strikes a good balance between romance and an actual plot. The characters are likeable and their storylines are credible.
An easy and entertaining read and the narrator, Thérèse Plummer is very good.
The Virgin River series was very much an in-medias-res for me. I started at book 13 which I liked and despite there being 12 other books before, it read easily as a standalone. I perused through the blurbs of all previous books and ended up choosing book 12, Wild Man Creek as my next read. Once again, no problem with getting into it.
I really appreciate how Robyn Carr strikes a good balance between romance and an actual plot. The characters are likeable and their storylines are credible.
An easy and entertaining read and the narrator, Thérèse Plummer is very good.
February 21, 2017
4.5 Wild Man Creek Stars
Sigh this series just leaves me smiling and wanting more, more of these character more of Virgin River. Just more. <3
Colin Riordan… Another Riordan BROTHER, sooo right there I was all clapping hands and YAY’s!
I really thought he was going to be a little more broken coming in to this story. Because of everything he has lost and all he has been through.
Jillian kind of surprised me, I liked that she just knew what she wanted to do the moment she touched that earth.
I kind of want to see her sister come to Virgin River to stay and find a man who deserves her.
How it all came to pass, from Denny and Jack and Colin to Luke being the one to help Jill when she needed it.
This book just has so many feels. We did get a little of Rick and his Nan, that part broke me up a little bit too.
Again Therese Plummer kills it with these narrations I can’t even tell you how happy hearing her voice come through my headphones makes me.
*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*
Sigh this series just leaves me smiling and wanting more, more of these character more of Virgin River. Just more. <3
Colin Riordan… Another Riordan BROTHER, sooo right there I was all clapping hands and YAY’s!
I really thought he was going to be a little more broken coming in to this story. Because of everything he has lost and all he has been through.
Jillian kind of surprised me, I liked that she just knew what she wanted to do the moment she touched that earth.
I kind of want to see her sister come to Virgin River to stay and find a man who deserves her.
How it all came to pass, from Denny and Jack and Colin to Luke being the one to help Jill when she needed it.
This book just has so many feels. We did get a little of Rick and his Nan, that part broke me up a little bit too.
Again Therese Plummer kills it with these narrations I can’t even tell you how happy hearing her voice come through my headphones makes me.
*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*
October 5, 2016
3.5 Stars
I adored Jillian, and completely admired her work ethic and drive. She was happy in her own skin and I appreciated that she knew enough not to pressure Colin to give up his dreams and stay. Jillian had her own goals and ambitions, so she understood. I know I'll get updates about them in the coming books, so there is that.
The Riordan brothers have a love/hate relationship, at times comical, but I appreciated that Colin and Luke were able put aside some of their rivalry, and get along a little better.
I adored Jillian, and completely admired her work ethic and drive. She was happy in her own skin and I appreciated that she knew enough not to pressure Colin to give up his dreams and stay. Jillian had her own goals and ambitions, so she understood. I know I'll get updates about them in the coming books, so there is that.
The Riordan brothers have a love/hate relationship, at times comical, but I appreciated that Colin and Luke were able put aside some of their rivalry, and get along a little better.
March 29, 2011
Might as well shoot me because I'm going to say it again...this is my favorite book in the series. I really mean it this time! LOL It might have taken Robyn Carr 12 books to get everything just right, but she succeeded in doing so with Wild Man Creek.
This is my favorite because:
1. The heroine, Jillian Matlock, is NOT a bitch! She gets totally screwed around by her boyfriend and is forced to take a leave of absence from her job...a software manufacturing business that she helped build from the ground up. Going from a 60-hour workweek to not working at all, Jill hasn't a clue what she is going to do; so she packs her bags, closes up her townhouse and just starts driving. Remembering a quaint place where she and her sister had stopped briefly the year before, Jill heads to Virgin River. She rents an old 3-story Victorian-style mansion, and, needing something to take her mind off how badly she was betrayed, she puts to use the teachings of her grandmother and starts tending the massive gardens.
2. The hero, Colin Riordan, is not the typical ex-serviceman residing in VR. He is not ready to settle down with a wife and have children...he is there only until his body has healed from a near-fatal helicopter crash, and his mind has healed from the dependency he developed for the pain killers. Colin loves to fly and is determined to do so again. Painting wildlife is his second love...a natural talent he has nurtured since childhood. Setting up his easel & paints on property he thought was uninhabited, Colin realizes his error in judgment when he encounters a most unhappy inhabitant.
3. The relationship between Colin and Jillian is not encumbered by any past secrets or future expectations. When they become lovers, it is with the complete understanding that the situation is temporary for they both have dreams that as yet are unfulfilled. They are compatible in every way, however, and bring out the best in each other. They laugh together, cook together, share endless stories and experiences, have over-the-top, mind-blowing sex and...well...that last compatibility is pretty much the icing on the cake. Before long, Colin and Jill are living together - still fully aware that their relationship will be ending when Colin leaves for So. Africa at the end of the summer - just living each day to the fullest.
4. There isn't a secondary relationship taking up space. When we encounter other Virgin River dwellers, it is either at Jack's bar or a Riordan family get-together. This way, Carr gives us the best of both worlds...our focus stays on the main couple yet at the same time we get to find out what everyone else has been up to. And absolutely no one is left out. Jack & Mel, Preacher & Paige, Mike & Brie, Paul & Vanessa, Luke & Shelby, Rick & Liz, Cam & Abby, Sean & Franci, Aiden & Erin, Ian & Marcie, Noah & Ellie, Clay & Lilly, Dan the ex-pothead, Art, Walt & Muriel, George & Mrs. Riordan. The only side story involves the young man, Denny, and his tentative relationship with Jack. Unfortunately, that did not turn out as I had hoped.
5. The ending is absolute perfection! I have listened to the audio books for the entire series and I am keeping Wild Man Creek on my ipod queue permanently, just so I can listen to the ending over and over again. Possibly the best HEA ever!
Although the series continues indefinitely, I do think RC could have ended it right here. Everyone I care about (see #4) is in a good place in life, and adding new characters will have the population of Virgin River bursting at the seams. But I say all this before reading the next installment, Harvest Moon...the book that - who knows - just might be my favorite of the series!
This is my favorite because:
1. The heroine, Jillian Matlock, is NOT a bitch! She gets totally screwed around by her boyfriend and is forced to take a leave of absence from her job...a software manufacturing business that she helped build from the ground up. Going from a 60-hour workweek to not working at all, Jill hasn't a clue what she is going to do; so she packs her bags, closes up her townhouse and just starts driving. Remembering a quaint place where she and her sister had stopped briefly the year before, Jill heads to Virgin River. She rents an old 3-story Victorian-style mansion, and, needing something to take her mind off how badly she was betrayed, she puts to use the teachings of her grandmother and starts tending the massive gardens.
2. The hero, Colin Riordan, is not the typical ex-serviceman residing in VR. He is not ready to settle down with a wife and have children...he is there only until his body has healed from a near-fatal helicopter crash, and his mind has healed from the dependency he developed for the pain killers. Colin loves to fly and is determined to do so again. Painting wildlife is his second love...a natural talent he has nurtured since childhood. Setting up his easel & paints on property he thought was uninhabited, Colin realizes his error in judgment when he encounters a most unhappy inhabitant.
3. The relationship between Colin and Jillian is not encumbered by any past secrets or future expectations. When they become lovers, it is with the complete understanding that the situation is temporary for they both have dreams that as yet are unfulfilled. They are compatible in every way, however, and bring out the best in each other. They laugh together, cook together, share endless stories and experiences, have over-the-top, mind-blowing sex and...well...that last compatibility is pretty much the icing on the cake. Before long, Colin and Jill are living together - still fully aware that their relationship will be ending when Colin leaves for So. Africa at the end of the summer - just living each day to the fullest.
4. There isn't a secondary relationship taking up space. When we encounter other Virgin River dwellers, it is either at Jack's bar or a Riordan family get-together. This way, Carr gives us the best of both worlds...our focus stays on the main couple yet at the same time we get to find out what everyone else has been up to. And absolutely no one is left out. Jack & Mel, Preacher & Paige, Mike & Brie, Paul & Vanessa, Luke & Shelby, Rick & Liz, Cam & Abby, Sean & Franci, Aiden & Erin, Ian & Marcie, Noah & Ellie, Clay & Lilly, Dan the ex-pothead, Art, Walt & Muriel, George & Mrs. Riordan. The only side story involves the young man, Denny, and his tentative relationship with Jack. Unfortunately, that did not turn out as I had hoped.
5. The ending is absolute perfection! I have listened to the audio books for the entire series and I am keeping Wild Man Creek on my ipod queue permanently, just so I can listen to the ending over and over again. Possibly the best HEA ever!
Although the series continues indefinitely, I do think RC could have ended it right here. Everyone I care about (see #4) is in a good place in life, and adding new characters will have the population of Virgin River bursting at the seams. But I say all this before reading the next installment, Harvest Moon...the book that - who knows - just might be my favorite of the series!
October 18, 2019
A another great addition to this series! These characters have become "family" to me. I love being part of each new romance as it develops & visiting with series characters in each book. Realistic plotlines, low-angst romance with a little sizzle, lots of emotion, awesome setting - all add up to great romance!
June 24, 2011
Unfortunately Unappealing
Jillian Matlock lived for her job as Vice President for Corporate Communications for a software manufacturer. So much so that she had no time or energy for a social life beyond the office. That's why she was dating a coworker and subordinate, even though it was against company policy. She had, in fact, been dating him for months, until she walked into the office one Monday morning and found out that her erstwhile boyfriend wasn't interested in her, he had just been setting her up for a sexual harassment suit that would get him loads of cash and her job.
Forced out of the company she loved and helped build, Jill takes off to lick her wounds and get her head on straight and ends up in the small town of Virgin River, where memories of childhood and a determination to work her way through her issues takes her life in a brand new direction.
Wrapped up in his own problems and still slowly recovering from the helicopter crash that almost killed him, Colin Riordan is in Virgin River to paint and get his body back into shape so he can get back up to the sky he so loves. When he had set up his easel and paints in the empty field he found, his thoughts were focused on the natural light, not bears that would be newly out of hibernation. Those thoughts quickly turned to bears, though, when the bushes started rustling. Thankfully, he'd come prepared and he pulled out the gun he had loaded up for just that contingency.
Instead of a bear, it was Jill, pushing her way thorough dense undergrowth to stare up at him. He almost shot her. It's a good thing he restrained himself, as her light laugh and indomitable spirit draw him to her like a moth to a flame. Soon he can't stop thinking about her, nor she him, but their idyllic summer fling has an expiration date, and when that date hits, he'll be gone. No matter how fond of her he grows or how much she comes to mean to him.
This twelfth book in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series is my first experience with Carr's books, and despite the wild popularity of the series, I had some issues with this one in both style and content. While the plot was okay conceptually, the narrative had some problems. There was a lot of repetition and readers are told again and again about things ranging from Jill's experience with gardening as a child, to Colin's plans when he leaves, to Jill's plans with the high-end veggies, and more. And when the narrative isn't bogged down with repetition, it's overburdened by excessive exclamation. None of the characters seemed to say or think things, they say! or think! them, as if everyone was either perpetually cheery or consistently emphatic. Not only did that get old quickly for me as a reader, but it stripped away much of the emotional range that rounds out characters, making them seem rather two dimensional and superficial. And exclamations were especially off-putting in Colin's dialogue. That's probably a personal preference, though. I like my big broody men to be big and broody, and the exclamations just seem too darn chippy.
Beyond that, I had a lot of trouble liking either of the main characters. Within pages I knew I was going to have trouble with Jill, not for getting taken in by the jerkwad boyfriend, but for calling him again and again when she learns of his duplicity. The lack of common sense and appalling disregard for dignity really bothered me. I had higher hopes for a woman of obvious intelligence and competence. Thankfully, she improved, but the improvements lead to other issues I'll mention later.
There was also little to recommend Colin as a romantic lead. I found him arrogant, self involved, and abrasive when he dealt with his brother (not that I liked Luke either for how he treated Colin), and so very shallow in all other areas. His constant assertions about getting back to flying didn't make him seem dedicated to me, they made him seem oblivious and ungrateful for his many gifts. And I'm sorry, but when he was thinking about his sexual past I actually shuddered when I read this:
There was no growth in the characters and no conflict in the story to spur that growth - either internal emotional conflict or external plot-based conflict. In fact, beyond the issues that drove them to Virgin Creek to begin with, absolutely everything goes exactly their way. Jill decides to start gardening professionally and everything falls into place beautifully. She's rich, and a hard worker, but come on - the lack of any obstacles was boring. And where was the angst over the past? It seemed like once she got to Virgin River and dug around in the dirt a bit she was completely unaffected by what had happened to her.
Then there's Colin. He was horribly scarred physically and almost died in a helicopter crash, was a drug addict for all of a month (uh...yeah) and did time for buying on the street...but he didn't have so much as a single moment of emotional trauma to get over before he got groiny with a woman who might be put off by the scars or his history...and didn't so much as a flinch before he flew again? Really? And he's such a good artist that the first art gallery he goes to agrees to sell his work and he makes over a thousand dollars right away.
Maybe I'm jaded...no, wait, I know I'm jaded, but still...the absolute lack of conflict for the main characters made them and their relationship hard to believe and impossible to relate to. The only significant conflict between them at all ended up being the inevitable parting at the end of the summer, and that wasn't enough for me to hold my attention through the book.
There was one source of conflict in the book (besides Colin leaving), but as it turns out, it didn't involve the main characters at all. There was a subplot with a couple of secondary characters that added a bit of complexity to the plot, but it also served to highlight a tendency for characters to overreact in sometimes sweeping overemotional ways that weren't very appealing. Denny, the young man involved, became a completely different character than he'd been portrayed to that point and I just found it to be a bit too much to be believed.
Without a doubt, the second half of the book was better for me than the first. There was still a lot of exclamation in the narrative, and the story bounced along on the no-personal-struggle highway, but there were some highlights that were nice. I did come to like how Jill and Colin were together as their relationship progressed, and I enjoyed Jill's relationship with her sister when she came to visit. I appreciated the supportive nature that Jill had when talking to Colin about the future, and thought that she handled it better than I would have in that situation. While I never totally warmed up to Colin, it was quite obvious that he was a better person with Jill in his life, and that was also a nice thing to see.
Unfortunately, the few rays of sunshine didn't do enough to warm my reaction to the book any higher than two stars. Carr is obviously wildly successful as an author and with this series in particular. You can't get to twelve books and not have amassed a loyal following. For me, though, this book didn't have enough to keep me interested in the series and it had some things that turned me off the writing style entirely. I was left with very little to no interest in anything else that occurs in and around Virgin River, or to the characters created to be there.
Disclosure: This book was provided to me free of charge through the Amazon.com Vine program for the purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments, and ratings are my own.
~*~*~*~
Find this review and more at One Good Book Deserves Another.
Jillian Matlock lived for her job as Vice President for Corporate Communications for a software manufacturer. So much so that she had no time or energy for a social life beyond the office. That's why she was dating a coworker and subordinate, even though it was against company policy. She had, in fact, been dating him for months, until she walked into the office one Monday morning and found out that her erstwhile boyfriend wasn't interested in her, he had just been setting her up for a sexual harassment suit that would get him loads of cash and her job.
Forced out of the company she loved and helped build, Jill takes off to lick her wounds and get her head on straight and ends up in the small town of Virgin River, where memories of childhood and a determination to work her way through her issues takes her life in a brand new direction.
Wrapped up in his own problems and still slowly recovering from the helicopter crash that almost killed him, Colin Riordan is in Virgin River to paint and get his body back into shape so he can get back up to the sky he so loves. When he had set up his easel and paints in the empty field he found, his thoughts were focused on the natural light, not bears that would be newly out of hibernation. Those thoughts quickly turned to bears, though, when the bushes started rustling. Thankfully, he'd come prepared and he pulled out the gun he had loaded up for just that contingency.
Instead of a bear, it was Jill, pushing her way thorough dense undergrowth to stare up at him. He almost shot her. It's a good thing he restrained himself, as her light laugh and indomitable spirit draw him to her like a moth to a flame. Soon he can't stop thinking about her, nor she him, but their idyllic summer fling has an expiration date, and when that date hits, he'll be gone. No matter how fond of her he grows or how much she comes to mean to him.
This twelfth book in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series is my first experience with Carr's books, and despite the wild popularity of the series, I had some issues with this one in both style and content. While the plot was okay conceptually, the narrative had some problems. There was a lot of repetition and readers are told again and again about things ranging from Jill's experience with gardening as a child, to Colin's plans when he leaves, to Jill's plans with the high-end veggies, and more. And when the narrative isn't bogged down with repetition, it's overburdened by excessive exclamation. None of the characters seemed to say or think things, they say! or think! them, as if everyone was either perpetually cheery or consistently emphatic. Not only did that get old quickly for me as a reader, but it stripped away much of the emotional range that rounds out characters, making them seem rather two dimensional and superficial. And exclamations were especially off-putting in Colin's dialogue. That's probably a personal preference, though. I like my big broody men to be big and broody, and the exclamations just seem too darn chippy.
Beyond that, I had a lot of trouble liking either of the main characters. Within pages I knew I was going to have trouble with Jill, not for getting taken in by the jerkwad boyfriend, but for calling him again and again when she learns of his duplicity. The lack of common sense and appalling disregard for dignity really bothered me. I had higher hopes for a woman of obvious intelligence and competence. Thankfully, she improved, but the improvements lead to other issues I'll mention later.
There was also little to recommend Colin as a romantic lead. I found him arrogant, self involved, and abrasive when he dealt with his brother (not that I liked Luke either for how he treated Colin), and so very shallow in all other areas. His constant assertions about getting back to flying didn't make him seem dedicated to me, they made him seem oblivious and ungrateful for his many gifts. And I'm sorry, but when he was thinking about his sexual past I actually shuddered when I read this:
"He had never had a shortage of female company, that's for sure. One of his favorite things was to wash lipstick off his favorite organ in the morning-after shower..."Seriously? This is the character that is the romantic lead in this contemporary romance? A guy who plans to leave - and reiterates those plans again and again throughout the book - and who not only thinks with his joystick, but devotes favorite pastimes to it? There just wasn't much that could be done after that to redeem his character for me. Not that much was tried. And that leads me to another bone of contention.
There was no growth in the characters and no conflict in the story to spur that growth - either internal emotional conflict or external plot-based conflict. In fact, beyond the issues that drove them to Virgin Creek to begin with, absolutely everything goes exactly their way. Jill decides to start gardening professionally and everything falls into place beautifully. She's rich, and a hard worker, but come on - the lack of any obstacles was boring. And where was the angst over the past? It seemed like once she got to Virgin River and dug around in the dirt a bit she was completely unaffected by what had happened to her.
Then there's Colin. He was horribly scarred physically and almost died in a helicopter crash, was a drug addict for all of a month (uh...yeah) and did time for buying on the street...but he didn't have so much as a single moment of emotional trauma to get over before he got groiny with a woman who might be put off by the scars or his history...and didn't so much as a flinch before he flew again? Really? And he's such a good artist that the first art gallery he goes to agrees to sell his work and he makes over a thousand dollars right away.
Maybe I'm jaded...no, wait, I know I'm jaded, but still...the absolute lack of conflict for the main characters made them and their relationship hard to believe and impossible to relate to. The only significant conflict between them at all ended up being the inevitable parting at the end of the summer, and that wasn't enough for me to hold my attention through the book.
There was one source of conflict in the book (besides Colin leaving), but as it turns out, it didn't involve the main characters at all. There was a subplot with a couple of secondary characters that added a bit of complexity to the plot, but it also served to highlight a tendency for characters to overreact in sometimes sweeping overemotional ways that weren't very appealing. Denny, the young man involved, became a completely different character than he'd been portrayed to that point and I just found it to be a bit too much to be believed.
Without a doubt, the second half of the book was better for me than the first. There was still a lot of exclamation in the narrative, and the story bounced along on the no-personal-struggle highway, but there were some highlights that were nice. I did come to like how Jill and Colin were together as their relationship progressed, and I enjoyed Jill's relationship with her sister when she came to visit. I appreciated the supportive nature that Jill had when talking to Colin about the future, and thought that she handled it better than I would have in that situation. While I never totally warmed up to Colin, it was quite obvious that he was a better person with Jill in his life, and that was also a nice thing to see.
Unfortunately, the few rays of sunshine didn't do enough to warm my reaction to the book any higher than two stars. Carr is obviously wildly successful as an author and with this series in particular. You can't get to twelve books and not have amassed a loyal following. For me, though, this book didn't have enough to keep me interested in the series and it had some things that turned me off the writing style entirely. I was left with very little to no interest in anything else that occurs in and around Virgin River, or to the characters created to be there.
Disclosure: This book was provided to me free of charge through the Amazon.com Vine program for the purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments, and ratings are my own.
~*~*~*~
Find this review and more at One Good Book Deserves Another.
February 1, 2011
Oh my! Colin and Jillian have made it to my new list...."favorite couples." Another hit in the Virgin River series....
Colin's story started in an earlier book. Here we saw him post helicopter accident and drug addiction (he got hooked on his pain medicine for a short time).
What a hunk of burnin' love! Be still my heart, this was one smokin' hot read. The tension was good, but when these two came together it was fireworks.
What happened to Jillian (she was introduced in book 11) was awful, but she reinvented herself and turned out a change was just what she needed. Loved reading about the gardening, and delicious meals (freeze the leftovers!).
As per this author's style, the book covered more than "just" two main characters. We learned a lot about Denny. We were updated on a few Riordan brothers, got to see a wedding from a relationship in an earlier book (Aiden), and saw a glimpse of Maureen and George.
Nicely written. Very entertaining and I can't wait for the next one in this terrific series.
Colin's story started in an earlier book. Here we saw him post helicopter accident and drug addiction (he got hooked on his pain medicine for a short time).
What a hunk of burnin' love! Be still my heart, this was one smokin' hot read. The tension was good, but when these two came together it was fireworks.
What happened to Jillian (she was introduced in book 11) was awful, but she reinvented herself and turned out a change was just what she needed. Loved reading about the gardening, and delicious meals (freeze the leftovers!).
As per this author's style, the book covered more than "just" two main characters. We learned a lot about Denny. We were updated on a few Riordan brothers, got to see a wedding from a relationship in an earlier book (Aiden), and saw a glimpse of Maureen and George.
Nicely written. Very entertaining and I can't wait for the next one in this terrific series.
October 11, 2015
I really quite enjoyed this book. I have to pick and choose Virgin River books carefully, I don't read them all. I'm not going to lie, sometimes her heroines fall way short, are really quite bitchy. They are either really lovely, or really not lovely. I'm also not going to lie, I really, really don't like Mel. Why on earth would Jack, the perfect guy, fall for such a cow. She had about two tiny little bits of dialogue in this book and she managed to say something bitchy both times. After that little mini rant, I really liked this heroine, Jilly, a lot. The hero, Colin, was a pretty good guy too, although was a bit slow on the uptake, took the whole book to finally get there, idiot. But it is a sweet romance.
December 23, 2016
Wild Man Creek es el duodecimo libro de los veinte que componen la saga Virgin River de Robyn Carr y narra la historia de Jillian y Colin, el segundo hermano Riordan.
Despues de haber leido tantos libros de esta serie tengo algo claro ... es como una montaña rusa, a veces las historias son impresionantes y otras bastante flojas, por lo que ya no tengo idea de que esperar cuando inicio una de estas novelas, aun asi esperaba con muchas ganas conocer mas a Colin, uno de los hermanos Riordan mas enigmatico, ya que no llegamos a saber mucho de el en los libros anteriores.
Esta lectura se ha convertido en una de mis favoritas de toda la saga : entretenida, interesante, con unos protagonistas maravillosos y una trama que te atrapa desde el primer capitulo, reconozco que pensaba ponerle mas puntuacion porque realmente me gusto mucho pero el final no fue del todo de mi agrado, es el mas rapido de todas las historias, ademas fue un tanto brusco, no esperaba un epilogo ( ya que ninguno de los libros anteriores tiene uno ) pero si un cierre mas desarrollado y pausado.
3.5 Estrellas!
April 7, 2011
Another great hit in one of my favorite series. I loved this book and to date my favorites in this series are the ones with the Riordan brothers.
This 12th book tells the story of Colin Riordan & Jillian Matlock. And what a hot story! The mystery behind young Denny Culter's visit is solved. There is a wedding and as usual we get to catch up on past characters and see what is happening in their lives.
Ms. Carr is a very talented writer and I love this series. Each time I read a VR book, I just want to go have supper at Jack's then put my feet in the cold creek and maybe stay for a long visit!
This 12th book tells the story of Colin Riordan & Jillian Matlock. And what a hot story! The mystery behind young Denny Culter's visit is solved. There is a wedding and as usual we get to catch up on past characters and see what is happening in their lives.
Ms. Carr is a very talented writer and I love this series. Each time I read a VR book, I just want to go have supper at Jack's then put my feet in the cold creek and maybe stay for a long visit!
August 13, 2017
There is just something about this book that just sucked me in from the first page, the reason was Jilly and Colin.
When we first meet Jillian I was blindsided just like she was. I couldn't believe how angry I was for her. If it were possible to reach into the page and throttle someone I would have done this. While Jillian did have someone in her corner, it just wasn't enough and when she needed a break, I just knew Virgin River would be in her sights, just the place she would be able to go, recover and come back stronger.
I have to say that the way she choose to recover was one that was unusual, but really seemed to fit her. Her child like glee in her new endeavor was catching and I admit I wondered if I could do something like that as well. I also loved that Jillian jumped in with both feet, failure just wasn't an option for her.
Colin was still struggling with the loss of what he believed was his ability to fly, his life long dream. And like so many he came to Virgin River to heal and plan his next step, of course it helped that his brother lived there and another was close. Colin's activity to fill his days did more than that. It had the added benefit of helping him work through his injury as a sort of pt, brought him to Jillian, and opened a new fork in a road he never thought to travel.
While a great portion of this book was about Jillian, Colin, and their courtship/relationship it also showcased just was is the appeal of this series, the community of Virgin River itself.
Within this story an old character that has had so much tragedy in his young life facing another one, but as always he faced it with a grace that someone his age shouldn't have. I found myself tearing up at this point and will find it hard in future books when his prediction comes true.
We also have a relative newcomer to Virgin River, one who has embraced the spirit of the community and quickly become one of the cornerstones, face news that threw him off his moorings more than once. He really needed to learn that family and community is not always where you are born, but often what you make of it.
With every series you have books that you like more than others and this one is one of my favorites in the series and it has one of the best scenes at the end that I have read in a long time!!
I only hope the next book can live up to this one!!
When we first meet Jillian I was blindsided just like she was. I couldn't believe how angry I was for her. If it were possible to reach into the page and throttle someone I would have done this. While Jillian did have someone in her corner, it just wasn't enough and when she needed a break, I just knew Virgin River would be in her sights, just the place she would be able to go, recover and come back stronger.
I have to say that the way she choose to recover was one that was unusual, but really seemed to fit her. Her child like glee in her new endeavor was catching and I admit I wondered if I could do something like that as well. I also loved that Jillian jumped in with both feet, failure just wasn't an option for her.
Colin was still struggling with the loss of what he believed was his ability to fly, his life long dream. And like so many he came to Virgin River to heal and plan his next step, of course it helped that his brother lived there and another was close. Colin's activity to fill his days did more than that. It had the added benefit of helping him work through his injury as a sort of pt, brought him to Jillian, and opened a new fork in a road he never thought to travel.
While a great portion of this book was about Jillian, Colin, and their courtship/relationship it also showcased just was is the appeal of this series, the community of Virgin River itself.
Within this story an old character that has had so much tragedy in his young life facing another one, but as always he faced it with a grace that someone his age shouldn't have. I found myself tearing up at this point and will find it hard in future books when his prediction comes true.
We also have a relative newcomer to Virgin River, one who has embraced the spirit of the community and quickly become one of the cornerstones, face news that threw him off his moorings more than once. He really needed to learn that family and community is not always where you are born, but often what you make of it.
With every series you have books that you like more than others and this one is one of my favorites in the series and it has one of the best scenes at the end that I have read in a long time!!
I only hope the next book can live up to this one!!
June 26, 2024
*Really 4.5 Stars*
I like this series, while reading this book didn't have any of the issues I so often have with some of them. I never felt like the couple of the story, Colin and Jillian, were pushed to the back burner. There was still plenty from the rest of the community and a couple of secondary stories along with an introduction to the cast for the following book, but the romance was always front and center.
Jillian and Colin were a sweet couple, it was nice to see them fall in love. I loved how they supported each other. I really appreciated how Jillian stood strong when Colin felt he had to leave, knowing he needed to go and that she deserved to be someone's everything. I would have liked more at then end, but it was still good.
I like this series, while reading this book didn't have any of the issues I so often have with some of them. I never felt like the couple of the story, Colin and Jillian, were pushed to the back burner. There was still plenty from the rest of the community and a couple of secondary stories along with an introduction to the cast for the following book, but the romance was always front and center.
Jillian and Colin were a sweet couple, it was nice to see them fall in love. I loved how they supported each other. I really appreciated how Jillian stood strong when Colin felt he had to leave, knowing he needed to go and that she deserved to be someone's everything. I would have liked more at then end, but it was still good.
February 27, 2012
This one may be my new favorite in the series. I just loved Colin & Jillian. They worked so well together and with all the other stuff going on in town, etc., everything worked perfectly in this book. I think Colin might be my new favorite brother. Luke is still pretty great though!! Such a tough choice.
October 27, 2021
Wild man Creek
4.5 stars
My heart!
Again! Wow what a roller-coaster. I need air.
Addicted to this serie
4.5 stars
My heart!
Again! Wow what a roller-coaster. I need air.
Addicted to this serie
December 26, 2010
In the twelfth book of the fabulous Virgin River series, the second of three for 2011, we are treated to the story of Colin Riordan and Jillian Matlock. Colin has winded his way to Virgin River to help recooperate after a bad helicopter crash that left him in alot of pain and unfortunately, addicted to pain killers. Thankfully, the addiction was short lived as his brothers noticed and stepped in to stop him....but he still got arrested from buying the drugs illegally. Through his therapy, Colin rediscovered his love of painting and while he is in Virgin River, he is taking photos of the wildlife to paint.
Jillian is back in Virgin River, after a brief visit with her sister and friends earlier in the year, because she is forced to take a leave of absences from her job due to a nasty dispute with a coworker. She begs Jack to let her rent out the big old Victorian that she noticed before, as it reminds her so much of her childhood with her beloved nana. With that comes all the memories of her nanas home grown, speciality vegetables....which Jillian decides she can grow and possibly redirect her life in that venue instead.
Colin and Jilly, as he grows to call her, meet up on her property one day as he is painting. Sparks fly right away and they head into a very heated love affair with their eyes wide open to the fact that Colin in leaving September 1st to head to Africa to photograph wildlife and possibly fly again and that she is only temporarily living in the Victorian. I was very happy with the fact that there really was no big misunderstanding in this book. They both acted like mature adults, but of course, I wanted to smack Colin when he still left for Africa even though they both said they loved each other. The love between these two was so romantic...they listened to each others passions and never tried to change each others mind, and it was smokin! :) The ending of this story was so heartwarming, it made my heart sigh and a few tears come to my eyes.
The major side story with this book was between Jack and the young Marine that popped up in the last book, Denny and once again, I was surprised with how that one turned out. We also got a glimpse of whats next in Harvest Moon between Jillians sister, Kelly and new to town, Lief and his um, rebillious teenager daughter. I can't wait to see how that one plays out! I feel like I am always repeating myself with these Virgin River books, but I have to say it again---I love coming home to this wonderful small town and I love the close family ties and the close ties between friends and neighbors. This is yet another solid addition to the series! 4 1/2 stars
I recieved this ebook via netgallery.com
Jillian is back in Virgin River, after a brief visit with her sister and friends earlier in the year, because she is forced to take a leave of absences from her job due to a nasty dispute with a coworker. She begs Jack to let her rent out the big old Victorian that she noticed before, as it reminds her so much of her childhood with her beloved nana. With that comes all the memories of her nanas home grown, speciality vegetables....which Jillian decides she can grow and possibly redirect her life in that venue instead.
Colin and Jilly, as he grows to call her, meet up on her property one day as he is painting. Sparks fly right away and they head into a very heated love affair with their eyes wide open to the fact that Colin in leaving September 1st to head to Africa to photograph wildlife and possibly fly again and that she is only temporarily living in the Victorian. I was very happy with the fact that there really was no big misunderstanding in this book. They both acted like mature adults, but of course, I wanted to smack Colin when he still left for Africa even though they both said they loved each other. The love between these two was so romantic...they listened to each others passions and never tried to change each others mind, and it was smokin! :) The ending of this story was so heartwarming, it made my heart sigh and a few tears come to my eyes.
The major side story with this book was between Jack and the young Marine that popped up in the last book, Denny and once again, I was surprised with how that one turned out. We also got a glimpse of whats next in Harvest Moon between Jillians sister, Kelly and new to town, Lief and his um, rebillious teenager daughter. I can't wait to see how that one plays out! I feel like I am always repeating myself with these Virgin River books, but I have to say it again---I love coming home to this wonderful small town and I love the close family ties and the close ties between friends and neighbors. This is yet another solid addition to the series! 4 1/2 stars
I recieved this ebook via netgallery.com
May 22, 2011
4-1/2* - A LOT of really good "emotion" came across in this book in the series. Plus, the heroine, Jillian, was just the kind of strong woman I love and relate to. She didn't feel the need to stifle her emotions about Colin, and in fact, indulged them in a healthy way in private moments. They didn't come off as self-pitying. Rather than a lot of heroines who probably would have just taken their emotions out on him to get their way. There's a big difference there: The former I define as a healthy personal journey/acknowledgement and self-respect; the latter is just basically immature and selfish.
I do think that overall Carr tries to create different types of couples with different needs, even if some of the earlier books were more similar. I think she's trying to continue to recognize what she has written and keeps stretching a bit to branch out in that regard. That said, there is formula that a reader expects, and she's trying to maintain a balance. I'm not a big fan of her well-known penchant for getting up on the proverbial "pulpit" for one "cause/interest" of her's or another, but I'm a pretty tolerant reader: I'm good at just zoning out the "advocacy of the book" moments. In fact, after so many, when I see it coming ... I almost start laughing to myself! ;) Afterall, I came for the romance! Overall, I'm pretty easy -- Capture my attention and make my heart flutter/sting for the protagonists in their romance, and I'll come back for more. I certainly have with this series.
K.
I do think that overall Carr tries to create different types of couples with different needs, even if some of the earlier books were more similar. I think she's trying to continue to recognize what she has written and keeps stretching a bit to branch out in that regard. That said, there is formula that a reader expects, and she's trying to maintain a balance. I'm not a big fan of her well-known penchant for getting up on the proverbial "pulpit" for one "cause/interest" of her's or another, but I'm a pretty tolerant reader: I'm good at just zoning out the "advocacy of the book" moments. In fact, after so many, when I see it coming ... I almost start laughing to myself! ;) Afterall, I came for the romance! Overall, I'm pretty easy -- Capture my attention and make my heart flutter/sting for the protagonists in their romance, and I'll come back for more. I certainly have with this series.
K.
January 29, 2020
Audiobook: Therese Plummer
Still in love with every word she’s performed for this series.
There really wasn’t anything I hated about this one, but there was nothing that really caused me to have a rush of emotions either. I enjoyed the main hero and heroine as well as some of the drama that took place with the locals. It did seem that more of this story was centered around the main couple which I love but which surprises me that I wasn’t totally in love with this story. Not sure why, perhaps it was just my head space at the time.
Multi POV
Safe
Triggers
Still in love with every word she’s performed for this series.
There really wasn’t anything I hated about this one, but there was nothing that really caused me to have a rush of emotions either. I enjoyed the main hero and heroine as well as some of the drama that took place with the locals. It did seem that more of this story was centered around the main couple which I love but which surprises me that I wasn’t totally in love with this story. Not sure why, perhaps it was just my head space at the time.
Multi POV
Safe
Triggers
March 20, 2011
I always enjoy Virgin River books on one level or another, but I really LOVED this book. It hit on all cylinders for me.
Series Note:
12th+ book in the Virgin River series. You probably don't need to read the whole series to read this one, but I would at least suggest reading the previous book, Promise Canyon, first.
Summary:
Jillian Matlock has everything going for her in her life. Then an ill-advised affair with a weasel coworker leaves her without a job and totally disillusioned. She decides to travel and ends up in Virgin River, a place she recently visited on a girls vacation. She's drawn back to a big old Victorian house she seen there and ends up convincing the town (Jack) to rent it to her where she dives headfirst into speciality/organic gardening, something she learned from her grandmother.
Colin Riordan finds himself in Virgin River for reasons not so different from Jillian's. A tragic accident during his military career left him seriously injured and his career as a helicopter pilot all but over. So he retreats to Virgin River to continue his recovery and to do some painting.
From the moment the two meet, they're drawn to each other. Both know their time in Virgin River is temporary. They have lives to get back to, after all. But for the time they are there, they see no reason why they can't spend it together. Neither expected things to get as serious as they did, or for the new lives they were carving out in Virgin River to stick. In Virgin River, anything is possible, though.
Review:
I just want to gush about this book. I wish I'd written my review sooner so I could remember all that I wanted to say about it. But I've been a slow-poke in getting reviews written and now all my thoughts on the book are a little muddled. But I'll try to get the basics.
I haven't read a Virgin River book yet that I've disliked. Some are more engaging than others, but this one was just fabulous. Maybe that's because the romance is more forefront in the story than in some other books. This story is really all about Jillian and Colin, their developing relationship, and the new lives the are building.
And I absolutely LOVED Colin and Jillian, as singular characters and as a couple. I've read some lackluster heroines lately, but Jillian was a wonderful romance heroine. She's totally at loose ends in her life, having lost her job because of a creep guy. She arrives in Virgin River and manages to re-acquaint herself with her love of gardening. She dives right into it full force. I really enjoyed reading about her passion for gardening, her love of everything involved - and I'm not much for gardening myself. There was just something about the way Carr wrote Jillian and her new hobby/career that was so vibrant and engaging. I was totally hooked into it.
Then there's Colin. Poor guy. A mishap while flying a helicopter leaves him gravely injured and then he develops a pain killer addiction that gets him arrested. After a stint in rehab, he's, like Jillian, at loose ends. The military won't have him back and neither will any reputable employer in need of a helicopter pilot. So he ends up in Virgin River, indulging his love of painting while he heals and tries to decide what to do next. It's so easy to empathize with Colin and all he's been through. On top of that, he comes across as such a nice guy.
When these two get together, it's so sweet and heart-warming. They fit perfectly together right from the start. As a romance reader, you just revel in the relationship that builds between them. There's such a passion and vibrancy to everything about them. You just want to keep reading more and more about them. And when Colin decides to move on to the next part of his life, it just breaks you heart (even though you know it'll all work out in the end - which just shows how well Carr wrote these two). It was just a fabulous romance all around and I loved each and every aspect of it.
As usual, you also get doses of other Virgin River residents and past couples. And that's never a bad thing since they are all such wonderful characters. There are bits and pieces of things going on with other characters, but the biggest by far revolves around the new character of Denny (introduced in the last book) and his search for his biological father. He takes a job as Jillian's helper on her garden/farm while he tries to decide what to do about his search.
This part of the story ended up somewhat like I thought. I guessed how it went initially, though Carr through a curveball partway through. It was a fairly engaging part of the story and it involved a fan-favorite character. So getting to read more about that character was enjoyable and I liked how it was handled...can't say too much so I don't spoil it ;)
I was sad to see this book end, though. It was that good for me. I didn't want the story of these two characters to end. But this is Virgin River. Characters never disappear. We always get more of them. And there's one more book in this VR sub-trilogy, and I believe Carr has one more trilogy under contract for the series. So I'm sure we'll get to see Jillian and Colin again soon.
Series Note:
12th+ book in the Virgin River series. You probably don't need to read the whole series to read this one, but I would at least suggest reading the previous book, Promise Canyon, first.
Summary:
Jillian Matlock has everything going for her in her life. Then an ill-advised affair with a weasel coworker leaves her without a job and totally disillusioned. She decides to travel and ends up in Virgin River, a place she recently visited on a girls vacation. She's drawn back to a big old Victorian house she seen there and ends up convincing the town (Jack) to rent it to her where she dives headfirst into speciality/organic gardening, something she learned from her grandmother.
Colin Riordan finds himself in Virgin River for reasons not so different from Jillian's. A tragic accident during his military career left him seriously injured and his career as a helicopter pilot all but over. So he retreats to Virgin River to continue his recovery and to do some painting.
From the moment the two meet, they're drawn to each other. Both know their time in Virgin River is temporary. They have lives to get back to, after all. But for the time they are there, they see no reason why they can't spend it together. Neither expected things to get as serious as they did, or for the new lives they were carving out in Virgin River to stick. In Virgin River, anything is possible, though.
Review:
I just want to gush about this book. I wish I'd written my review sooner so I could remember all that I wanted to say about it. But I've been a slow-poke in getting reviews written and now all my thoughts on the book are a little muddled. But I'll try to get the basics.
I haven't read a Virgin River book yet that I've disliked. Some are more engaging than others, but this one was just fabulous. Maybe that's because the romance is more forefront in the story than in some other books. This story is really all about Jillian and Colin, their developing relationship, and the new lives the are building.
And I absolutely LOVED Colin and Jillian, as singular characters and as a couple. I've read some lackluster heroines lately, but Jillian was a wonderful romance heroine. She's totally at loose ends in her life, having lost her job because of a creep guy. She arrives in Virgin River and manages to re-acquaint herself with her love of gardening. She dives right into it full force. I really enjoyed reading about her passion for gardening, her love of everything involved - and I'm not much for gardening myself. There was just something about the way Carr wrote Jillian and her new hobby/career that was so vibrant and engaging. I was totally hooked into it.
Then there's Colin. Poor guy. A mishap while flying a helicopter leaves him gravely injured and then he develops a pain killer addiction that gets him arrested. After a stint in rehab, he's, like Jillian, at loose ends. The military won't have him back and neither will any reputable employer in need of a helicopter pilot. So he ends up in Virgin River, indulging his love of painting while he heals and tries to decide what to do next. It's so easy to empathize with Colin and all he's been through. On top of that, he comes across as such a nice guy.
When these two get together, it's so sweet and heart-warming. They fit perfectly together right from the start. As a romance reader, you just revel in the relationship that builds between them. There's such a passion and vibrancy to everything about them. You just want to keep reading more and more about them. And when Colin decides to move on to the next part of his life, it just breaks you heart (even though you know it'll all work out in the end - which just shows how well Carr wrote these two). It was just a fabulous romance all around and I loved each and every aspect of it.
As usual, you also get doses of other Virgin River residents and past couples. And that's never a bad thing since they are all such wonderful characters. There are bits and pieces of things going on with other characters, but the biggest by far revolves around the new character of Denny (introduced in the last book) and his search for his biological father. He takes a job as Jillian's helper on her garden/farm while he tries to decide what to do about his search.
This part of the story ended up somewhat like I thought. I guessed how it went initially, though Carr through a curveball partway through. It was a fairly engaging part of the story and it involved a fan-favorite character. So getting to read more about that character was enjoyable and I liked how it was handled...can't say too much so I don't spoil it ;)
I was sad to see this book end, though. It was that good for me. I didn't want the story of these two characters to end. But this is Virgin River. Characters never disappear. We always get more of them. And there's one more book in this VR sub-trilogy, and I believe Carr has one more trilogy under contract for the series. So I'm sure we'll get to see Jillian and Colin again soon.
April 11, 2019
Entretenido, muy en la línea de esta escritora.
Historia sencilla y sin complicaciones. No esta al nivel de los primeros libros de la saga, pero se lee muy bien.
Historia sencilla y sin complicaciones. No esta al nivel de los primeros libros de la saga, pero se lee muy bien.
October 11, 2019
I have to be honest and say that this is my absolute least favorite of the series. I didn't care at all for the main characters and neither was I pleased about the situation with Jack and Denny in this book. There was so much repetition throughout. Is there not one single military man that was not a man-whore other than Rick and Preacher? That gets old and began to grate on me. Some seem to have a single-minded focus on the male appendage. I think most all of these men throughout the series sure did a lot more thinking with their little noggin that the big one and I thought less of them for the exploits.
January 19, 2016
This was just a good romance to me. I love the series though and know that these are going to be hit or miss for me. I did enjoy seeing some of our old couples and think that Carr did a better job than normal of keeping the primary romance front and center. I liked Colin and Jillian as a couple and thought they were a good match. Thought at times that Jillian was a flake with her ideas and had a hard time reconciling that image with her corporate one. But maybe that was the point. I do look forward to the next book in the series and the next visit to VR.
May 27, 2020
It was so good to return to Virgin River after so many years. I can’t even remember when I last read a book in this series and seriously, after having enjoyed this story so much, I honestly can’t remember why I ever felt the need to go so long without reading one more book by Robyn Carr. I really like her writing and the characters she comes up with.
Colin and Jillian were just too sweet and I can’t get enough of them. I really want to read the rest of the books in this series - I have so few left and these books are perfect comfort reads.
Colin and Jillian were just too sweet and I can’t get enough of them. I really want to read the rest of the books in this series - I have so few left and these books are perfect comfort reads.
January 12, 2022
4 stelle e mezza
Erano anni che non leggevo un libro su Virgin River e mi ero scordata di quanto fossero collettivi, nonostante ci sia sempre una storia principale. E devo dire che mi sono sentita subito come se fossi tornata fra vecchi amici! Ora vediamo di non far passare un altro secolo prima di leggere un altro libro della serie, fra l'altro credo di averne saltato uno o due...
Erano anni che non leggevo un libro su Virgin River e mi ero scordata di quanto fossero collettivi, nonostante ci sia sempre una storia principale. E devo dire che mi sono sentita subito come se fossi tornata fra vecchi amici! Ora vediamo di non far passare un altro secolo prima di leggere un altro libro della serie, fra l'altro credo di averne saltato uno o due...
April 5, 2021
Loved it! This series is amazing!
September 11, 2020
One of my favorites in the series so far.
May 6, 2020
This installment reminded me why I fell in love with this series over two years ago. There have been many ups and downs over the last 12 books, but Colin and Jillian will be a favorite. I'm also intrigued by Denny and can't wait for his book.
February 16, 2011
Wild Man Creek is easily one of my favorite installments of Virgin River series. That's saying a lot, considering there are thirteen books (including novellas)!
We met our heroine, Jillian, in Promise Canyon she, along with her sister Kelly and two of her best friends, happened to stop in Virgin River on their way back from their week long girls vacation. Jillian fell in love with a huge Victorian House that reminded her of her Nana and felt like home. Months later, after Jillian has been betrayed by her boyfriend and forced to take a leave of absence from her high stress job, she finds herself drawn back to Virgin River and the house that felt like home.
There she discovers a passion for gardening the rare fruits and vegetables that her Nana once harvested. Whereas most people garden as a hobby, Jillian's drive and passion turn it into something more. Something that she think may, one day, make a promising business venture.
Enter, Colin Roirdian. The sexy, scruffy ex-pilot, current painter shows up, with easel in hand in the back yard of Jillian's new temporary home. Colin is taking a breather in Virgin River after recovering from a near fatal helicopter crash followed by rehab for his addiction to his prescription pain meds. Unfortunately, his career in the armed forces has been cut short. Colin's accident has given him the time and opportunity to focus on his wildlife painting, however he does not intend to give up flying for good. He plans to, after his stint in Virgin River, to travel to Africa to photograph wildlife to use in his future paintings as well as investigate any flying opportunities abroad.
Jillian and Colin's attraction is immediate and their relationship progresses quickly. Surprisingly, there's little drama where there was potential for it. Jillian was betrayed by her previous boyfriend which could easily have made for trust issues. Jillian doesn't demand Colin forgo Africa for her. It was refreshing to see Jillian encourage Colin's pursuit of his dreams and goals. Both parties know going into their relationship that it has an expiration date. Jillian will eventually have to give up her gardening to return to the corporate world and Colin has his African safari planned. Or can they build a new life, together, in Virgin River?
I love, love, loved Wild Man Creek. I loved Jillian and Colin's relationship, while not perfect, it was loving and supportive with out a lot of drama where drama could easily have complicated their relationship. As I've said before, and will likely continue to say in all my reviews of Virgin River books they're my warm fuzzy reads. When I need to feel like all is right with the world, I can always visit Virgin River for uplifting stories about friends, family, love, and community.
We met our heroine, Jillian, in Promise Canyon she, along with her sister Kelly and two of her best friends, happened to stop in Virgin River on their way back from their week long girls vacation. Jillian fell in love with a huge Victorian House that reminded her of her Nana and felt like home. Months later, after Jillian has been betrayed by her boyfriend and forced to take a leave of absence from her high stress job, she finds herself drawn back to Virgin River and the house that felt like home.
There she discovers a passion for gardening the rare fruits and vegetables that her Nana once harvested. Whereas most people garden as a hobby, Jillian's drive and passion turn it into something more. Something that she think may, one day, make a promising business venture.
Enter, Colin Roirdian. The sexy, scruffy ex-pilot, current painter shows up, with easel in hand in the back yard of Jillian's new temporary home. Colin is taking a breather in Virgin River after recovering from a near fatal helicopter crash followed by rehab for his addiction to his prescription pain meds. Unfortunately, his career in the armed forces has been cut short. Colin's accident has given him the time and opportunity to focus on his wildlife painting, however he does not intend to give up flying for good. He plans to, after his stint in Virgin River, to travel to Africa to photograph wildlife to use in his future paintings as well as investigate any flying opportunities abroad.
Jillian and Colin's attraction is immediate and their relationship progresses quickly. Surprisingly, there's little drama where there was potential for it. Jillian was betrayed by her previous boyfriend which could easily have made for trust issues. Jillian doesn't demand Colin forgo Africa for her. It was refreshing to see Jillian encourage Colin's pursuit of his dreams and goals. Both parties know going into their relationship that it has an expiration date. Jillian will eventually have to give up her gardening to return to the corporate world and Colin has his African safari planned. Or can they build a new life, together, in Virgin River?
I love, love, loved Wild Man Creek. I loved Jillian and Colin's relationship, while not perfect, it was loving and supportive with out a lot of drama where drama could easily have complicated their relationship. As I've said before, and will likely continue to say in all my reviews of Virgin River books they're my warm fuzzy reads. When I need to feel like all is right with the world, I can always visit Virgin River for uplifting stories about friends, family, love, and community.
January 27, 2011
Virgin River still going strong, Wild Man Creek did not disappoint. Virgin River is my favorite series, I recommend it to everyone and now half my neighborhood is reading it. Even though it just rolls along, nothing too crazy, it captures me every time. I found myself just opening Wild Man Creek and in no time I was half way through it, it was that smooth. Colin and Jillian's story was sweet and mature, no major conflicts, but not boring. My only conflicting thought was that Colin in WMC was not the same character as described in the previous books before the accident. I liked this one better, more mellow and lovable. I need to find this hidden commune of Virgin River men!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 823 reviews