Last Christmas Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband, Bobby. This Christmas she's come to Virgin River to find the man who saved his life and gave her three more years to love him.

Fellow marine Ian Buchanan dragged Bobby's shattered body onto a medical transport in Fallujah four years ago, then disappeared as soon as their unit arrived stateside. Since then, Marcie's letters to Ian have gone unanswered.

Marcie tracks Ian to the tiny mountain town of Virgin River and finds a man as wounded emotionally as Bobby was physically. But she is not easily scared off. As Marcie pushes her way into his rugged and reclusive life, she discovers a sweet but damaged soul beneath a rough exterior.

Ian doesn't know what to make of the determined young widow who forces him to look into the painful past and, what's worse, the uncertain future. But it is, after all, a season of miracles and maybe, just maybe, it's time to banish the ghosts and open his heart.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Written - but Sad
Comment: This book is wonderfully written. The characters are incredibly well-developed and likable. I was looking for a happy holiday story, however, this book had me in tears more than once. Maybe it's because I can relate to caring for a bed-ridden invalid (my grandmother lived with us, bed-ridden, for 15 years when I was growing up.) This story has a great romance and the usual happy ending. It's the characters' histories that made me cry (Yes, I am one of those sappy people who cries at sad TV shows and movies.) I don't think I would have bought this book if I had know that it would make me cry. Romance novels, for me, should be light reading, and this was NOT "light." Nevertheless, it is an incredibly well-written story. So, in fairness, I must give it 5 stars.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER WONDERFUL STORY FROM VIRGIN RIVER
Comment: Two main characters: Marcie Sullivan - she must find Ian Buchanan.
Her search takes her to the Virgin River area.
Here we meet old friends again.

Ian doesn't want to have to face his feelings about his friend, Bobby Sullivan.
He just wanted to be left alone, which, of course didn't happen. Marcie kept stirring up old memories.
She also has young brother, Drew, who seemed to understand her reasons for locating Ian. And a sister, Erin, who worries about her.

We meet again a wonderful bunch of characters woven into beautiful human story.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED along with the 3 other Virgin River books and the begining 3 Grass Valley stories. three more books coming in 09.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good story, although a little too long for my taste
Comment: A VIRGIN RIVER CHRISTMAS is my first introduction to Robyn Carr, and I enjoyed the book. Good writing, likeable characters, good pacing. I found the basic premise for the story to be believable: Marcie Sullivan wants to find her late husband's best friend and former Marine commander so that she can find some closure and move on. Marcie is psychologically healthy and sound. Due to her husband's near vegetative state, she had plenty of time to slowly grieve his loss even during the remaining years of his life, and in the year since his death, she's found a measure of peace. But she's still bothered by this sense of unfinished business, because Ian Buchanan, who had been her husband's friend and Marcie's friend (through letters) as well, just disappeared out of her life without a word. She wants to track him down, let him know of her husband's passing, and give him a possession of her husband's that she knew Ian would value. Through sheer tenancity, Marcie does locate Ian, and a series of unfortunate events allows her to spend some much needed time with him in a secluded cabin. Gradually, they have time to get to know one another again -- this time in person -- and to eventually talk about the past, even though Ian is very resistent to doing so. In their shared experiences, both past and present, they develop feelings for one another that strengthen into love. Love in ten days? Well, it works the way Carr writes it. Of the two characters, I found Marcie to be the better developed and believable of the two, but Ian was certainly appealing on a number of levels.

My only real criticism of the book is just that it was too long for me for the amount of plot/story Carr included. I'd have rated the story higher if it had been about 100 pages shorter. To me, it read like a novella that just didn't know when to end. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book enough to want to check out others in this series and by this author.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Wayyyy to earthy
Comment: I enjoyed the other books in this series and was looking forward to this one. But truly, I should have just reread one of her earlier books. The romance was light. And I don't need expensive trips and cars and jewels in my romance, but a working toilet would be nice. I heard way too much about outhouses, and the "blue pot" for toileting, and "piddled and wiped" to put me in any kind of romantic mood! Add that to a lack of bathing facilities (a sponge bath only goes so far) and I was done with the romancing in this book. Also, not enough was wrapped up at the end for me. Mel and Jack had plenty of money socked away in the first book, and I don't expect everyone to live like that (although plenty of her characters do live on a government pension and a paycheck). But these 2 characters - no job, no training, no plan for job or training, no interest in a job or training, no money, a cabin with no running water, or electricity, and heat only from a wood burning stove. I know this author likes to emphasize the idea of living like pioneers and bartering for healthcare and other needs, and getting by on what you need not all the extras, but this romance was too pioneer-style for me to feel romantic.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Virgin River Christmas - my least favorite so far, but still good
Comment: Marcie Sullivan travels to Virgin River to seek out the man who saved her husband Bobby's life when he was critically injured in Iraq. Since saving Bobby, Ian Buchannan has withdrawn from everything and everyone and is living the life of a hermit. Ian gave Marcie three more years with Bobby before he died from his injuries, something that Ian feels guilty about, but Marcie is thankful for. Marcie feels she can't move on with her life until she thanks Ian. She didn't expect to find a man who was hurting and didn't understand her gratefulness at saving her husband's life. Can Marcie continue to reach out to this rough and brute man?

Since this is romance, you know the answer to that. Being snowed-in in a little cabin with no electricity, and bang, you have yourself a romance. A Virgin River Christmas is the fourth book in Carr's Virgin River series, and is probably my least favorite of the books so far, but it is still a good book. I thought Marcie was a little too gold-hearted and not real enough. Also, in all the other Virgin River books, before the main characters engage in sexual relations, birth control is discussed or used, but it was never addressed between Marcie and Ian. I was bummed because I thought Carr was setting a precedent in her previous books.

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