Robyn Carr, Shelter Mountain

Shelter Mountain

Robyn Carr

Mira, May 2007, $6.99

ISBN: 077832429X

Former Marine John "Preacher" Middleton works as a cook at the restaurant owned by his former commanding officer Jack Sheridan in remote VIRGIN RIVER, California. Preacher lives a quiet life with no women and a few social events with the other vets from his former unit.

Soaked to the bone, Paige Lassiter enters the restaurant carrying her three-year-old son Christopher. She is on the run from her abusive former spouse, but Preacher assumes it is his scary looks that frighten winners of tough men contests are the reason she is so terrified. However, he also knows he likes her calling him John and somehow her waif-like bruised condition reanimates something Preacher thought was dead as he vows to keep and her child safe from that nasty mess of a "car door" if he ever arrives in the Redwoods. As she works in his kitchen, Paige falls in love with the gentle giant; he reciprocates and includes her son in his heart. When the enemy arrives he will find his ex-wife's protector is a formidable adversary.

Robyn Carr shows her talent with the second Virgin River tale as this exhilarating thriller stars the enigmatic Preacher and the domestic abuse victim. The storyline is driven by their slowly changing relationship as she brings out the obvious protectiveness in John but also a "romantic" side while peeling potatoes. The suspense comes late as it should in this superb sequel.

Harriet Klausner