A nice addition to the Virgin River series. This one focused pretty exclusively on the main couple. Others were involved only as they pertained to Dylan and Katie's story. I liked the sweetness of their relationship and the things they did together and how Dylan just couldn't seem to let her go. Not a lot of high angst just a couple figuring out how to make it work. Just when I thought I was done with Virgin River the stories are getting more focused and less about everyone in town. I liked it. ( )

Redwood Bend is book #16 in Robyn Carr’s long-running Virgin River series. I’ve been happy to get back to Virgin River this year and work on catching up. It’s always like revisiting old friends. In this book, we have Katie, the sister of Connor from the previous book, Hidden Summit, paired with Dylan, an ex-movie star, who’s just passing through town until Katie catches his eye. They meet up on the road outside Virgin River when Katie’s SUV has a flat tire and Dylan and his motorcycle-riding buddies stop to help. During their sojourn in the little mountain town, Dylan can’t resist getting to know Katie better. This commitment-phobe initially thinks it’s just going to be another in a long string of flings he’s had, but she turns out to be far more than he expected, making him reluctant to leave. But his air charter business in Montana is suffering from a downturn in the economy, and he needs to make some money fast, or it’s going to go under. So he decides to get in touch with an old Hollywood producer friend and see if he can return to the movies, but once in LA, he can’t stop thinking about the woman he left behind.

Dylan was born into a dysfunctional Hollywood family. He grew up as a super-star child actor adored by millions and turned into a teen heartthrob loved by young girls everywhere including Katie. Spoiled and catered to by nearly everyone around him, by the time he was fifteen, he was already headed down a dangerous path toward addiction. After his best friend overdosed, Dylan’s equally famous grandmother whisked him away to a ranch in Montana where she set about reforming him by teaching him the value of hard work and showing him the simple life most of his fans lived. He’s been there for the last twenty years and no longer misses the Hollywood lifestyle. Instead, he’s reinvented himself as the owner of a small airport and air charter business and loves his new life as a pilot. But after a downturn in business, he knows he needs to make some quick money or his dream job is going to go down the tubes fast, so he has plans to meet up with a movie producer and try to get back into the business. Dylan takes to the road on his motorcycle along with a few friends and ends up in the California mountain town of Virgin River, where he meets Katie. He’s instantly attracted to her, although he’s never dated a woman with kids before, and although things start out casual, he quickly realizes she’s gotten under his skin in a way no other woman has before. He lingers around town for far longer than he expected to in order to spend time with her, and when he finally heads for LA, he can’t stop thinking about her the entire time he’s there. However, his messed up family has left him believing that he’d never make good husband or father material. Dylan is a great guy. He may be an ex-movie star, but twenty years in Montana have tamed him into an ordinary man with a pretty ordinary life. He’s very good to Katie and her boys, and although he believes that he wouldn’t be any good as a family man, he more than proves that he’s better at it than he thinks.

Katie is a widow who had a whirlwind romance with her first husband, an Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan before her twin boys were even born. They didn’t have much time together, but she cherishes every memory she has. Her older brother, Connor, stepped up to the plate to be a father-figure to the boys right from the start, but after he became the sole witness in a murder investigation, which led to the hardware store they co-owned and inherited from their parents being burned down (events that occurred in Hidden Summit), she suddenly had to be whisked away to Vermont for her own protection. Now that the trial is over and it’s once again safe, Katie decides to spend the summer renting a cabin near Connor and his fiancée in Virgin River. On the way there, she meets Dylan on the road, and having been a huge fan, she almost immediately recognizes him but manages to play it cool for quite a while. At first, she resists getting any more involved with him than just friends, but the attraction is too strong to resist for long. She’s never really had a fling before and doesn’t think she’ll be very good at it, but at the same time, she knows she’d regret it if she didn’t. Even though Dylan made no promises to stay and Katie tried to steel herself for his eventual departure, it still hurts when he leaves and her heart breaks even further when she sees his picture splashed on the covers of the tabloids with a woman from his past. Circumstances arise that she knows will necessitate getting in touch with him again, but when he returns of his own accord, she isn’t quite sure if she can trust him not to break her heart all over again. Katie is a strong woman with a positive outlook on life, who’s managed to raise rambunctious twin boys all on her own for the last five years while weathering through the grief of losing her husband. She never complains about her lot in life, though, and is open to taking a chance on Dylan. She’s just the solid rock he needs in his life to steer him in the right direction.

With Redwood Bend being part of a very long-running series, there are supporting characters aplenty who’ve had books of their own in the series. Most prominent would be Connor and Leslie (Hidden Summit) who are Katie’s main support system. Connor plays the alpha protector, big brother, while Leslie tries to reign him in. Of course, Jack and Mel (Virgin River) who are the backbone of this series make several appearances, along with Preacher (Shelter Mountain). Mike (Whispering Rock) shows up in one scene, trying to keep the peace when Connor and Dylan get into a fight. Dan (Paradise Valley) happens to be at the bar, too, when the fight breaks out. We see Paul (Second Chance Pass) a couple of times as Connor’s boss. Dylan and his friends stay at Luke’s (Temptation Ridge) cabins for a while and have a couple of conversations with him. Walt and Muriel show up, because Muriel is an old Hollywood friend of Dylan’s grandmother. One of Dylan’s motorcycle buddies is also named Walt and I have to say that it was a bit confusing having two characters in the same story with the same name. I think that’s the first time it’s ever happened. There are also several other series characters who receive mentions. As a friend and neighbor of Leslie’s, Nora appears in a scene. Then young Tom Cavanaugh who left Virgin River way back in Temptation Ridge to join the military, returns to help his grandmother run the apple orchard. I remember him being a good kid, though not a kid anymore. I’m a little sad that he’s apparently no longer with Brenda, his girlfriend back then, but I’m curious about the new Tom/Nora pairing that will be coming up in the next book, Sunrise Point. Dylan’s grandmother and Katie’s twins are also standouts.

Overall, I enjoyed Redwood Bend along with its main characters, Dylan and Katie. I thought they were a well-matched couple, while Katie’s twins are cute and precocious. As always, it was fun visiting with the townspeople who make Virgin River what it is. As with the last book of the series, this one has a rather languid pace. During the first half or so of the book, I’d say that Dylan and Katie spend almost as much time apart as they do together, so their romance is kind of a slow-burn. I didn’t have any major issues with the story, but I also can’t say that it hit any emotional highs or lows for me. It didn’t quite garner keeper status from me, mainly because the story, like several of these latter Virgin River books was a little on the mundane side. It was just one of those pleasant, rainy-day type comfort reads. Going into a Robyn Carr book, especially a Virgin River book, I usually know what I’m in for, and in that respect, it didn’t disappoint. It’s a nice addition to the series that’s sure to please long-time fans. ( )

This was one of my least favorite books in the series. A male and female lead that were lame together and a male lead that sucked. I think Carr was going for a reformed rake story-line taking place in contemporary times, but honestly it didn’t work. And I loathe contemporary romances where the male lead is all I am only here to get laid and am not interested in a relationship and the woman is maybe I can change him. Stop it!

I wish an author would have the woman saying okay I can do that, and having her go merrily on her way after the hook-up. Have that guy chase after her and have her honestly not be interested and not acting as if she is not interested in order to get him to be interested. Did you all follow that?

Dylan sucks. I think that if Katie had been single with no kids I wouldn’t have cared. But she did have kids and I think that it was in Jerry Maguire that Cuba Gooding Jr. said to Tom Cruise’s character, you do not mess with single mothers unless you plan on being there. And I kind of want to know what Katie is thinking since she doesn’t seem smart at all.

Katie has left behind what she thought was a promising relationship with a dentist (poor dentists, the romance world hates you all) and takes her two twin boys to be with her brother Conner for the summer. Katie is also a widow (Virgin River, you strike again) and you would think she would be cautious about introducing her kids to men unless she’s dating them. I try not to get judgey with fictional characters too much (total lie, I am super judgey, I love books but certain things drive me up the wall while reading) but I honestly wanted to tell Katie to find a vibrator and just leave Dylan alone.

Dylan’s plot was laughably bad. He is a former child actor who is trying to keep his flight business in Montana afloat. It’s not doing well so he goes back to acting. After like a 10 year or 20 year break. I can’t even remember because I just rolled my eyes. He’s terrible towards his mother and half brother and sister because he sees them as only being there to just suck him dry and use him to get their own careers back on the track. Besides a few paragraphs here and there that was all you get there dealing with them.

Dylan sticks around Virgin River a bit (even though his business is failing) to get laid. Seriously. He decides he is attracted to Katie though he is not interested in a relationship and based on his dialogue cannot really stand her kids.

I know there were other people in this book, I just can’t recall them besides Conner and Leslie from the last book. Most of this book really dealt with Katie weeping over Dylan and trying not to show him she missed him and then a curveball is thrown in that had me vibrating with the urge to dropkick my Kindle. I did not do that since I had a brand new Kindle Fire HD for Christmas from my brothers, and I don’t treat gifts from family like soccer balls. Back to the book, it was a terrible idea to introduce, and I think the only reason why was in order to have this couple be together because even Carr I felt like was not too enthused about them. ( )

Great addition to the series
Former actor Dylan Childress left the LA scene for a quiet life running an aviation company in Montana. But with business slowing, Dylan wonders if he should take one of the offers Hollywood keeps sending his way. He figures a motorcycle trip to Virgin River with his buddies might help him decide what path to take. But his own troubles are left at the side of the road when he spots a woman stranded on the way into town.

Katie Malone and her twin boys' trip to Virgin River is stopped short by a tire as flat as her failed romance. To make matters worse, it's raining, the boys are hungry and Katie is having trouble putting on the spare. So when some bikers pull up, offering to help, all Katie feels is relief. Then she sees sexy, leather-clad Dylan, and in one brief moment the world turns on its axis.

Additional back stories continue about the folks in the town too, which is nice ( )

Review: Redwood Bend by Robyn Carr.

This is the first time I read anything from this author. I enjoyed the story and loved the characters. It was well written however, some of the events were predictable as the story unfolded. That didn’t make the novel less interesting or adventurous. The flow of the story was uplifting as the sequence of the two main characters lives connected. It was a little to much for me as far as a shining knight in armor comes to the rescue scenario but reading this kind of genre is nowhere harmful to anyone who cares for the romance side of a story but I prefer the exciting mysteries of secrets, crime, murder, wild raw adventure and intriguing characters.

The story is about Katie, a single mom of five year old twins who became a widow before the boys were born. She decides to move closer to her brother and his fiancée after some time of being of on her own and the surprising news the interest she had in her boss went down the drain when she found out he was gay. She packed up and decided to move to the mountains seeking a better life.

Katie was ready for stability, a social life, and commitment and a change of pace. Well it didn’t take long for her to enter in a “commitment free”, not by choice, relationship with Dylan, once a child star, who came from a dysfunctional family and who believes he is not the settling down type of guy. He believes and relates to Katie that he is just passing through and will soon be going home to his airplane charter service in Montana. When it comes time for him to leave, neither can admit to each other that it was more than a fling. Pride and stubbornness held them back as they struggled with saying good-bye…..

( )