Monday, June 18, 2012

Redwood Bend

Redwood Bend by Robyn Carr

4 stars

Reader's of Romance Summer 2012 Reading Challenge
prompt title word with a W. (Red "Wood" Bend)


Back Cover
Katie Malone and her twin boys' trip along the beautiful mountain roads to Virgin River is stopped short by a tire as flat as her failed romance. To make matters worse, the rain has set in, the boys are hungry and Katie is having trouble putting on a spare. As she stands at the side of the road pondering her next move, she hears a distinct rumble. The sight of the sexy, leather-clad bikers who pull up beside her puts her imagination into overdrive.

Dylan Childress and his buddies are on the motorcycle trip of a lifetime. But the sight of a woman in distress stops them in their tracks. And while the guys are checking out her car, she and Dylan are checking out one another.

In one brief moment, the world tilts on its axis and any previous plans Katie and Dylan might have had for their futures are left at the side of the road.



My Thoughts:
I liked the book.  So I say that first because I have been such a great fan of the Virgin River series and Ms. Carr's books.  I find that she writes characters that you want to root for.  If her character is working through their demons or baggage then I find it easy to invest.  She gives me enough of the back story so that I sympathize and want to see them succeed.  Every once in a while she will write a character that I just don't connect with.  There have been a couple in the series of (17 or so.).  Unfortunately this was one of those books.  And curiously Katie was that character.  I get her back story and even sympathize, but I just didn't feel her inner struggle.  I feel like Ms. Carr spent better energy writing Dylan than Katie.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the character of Katie, but feel like she wasn't as "fleshed out" as Dylan.  I didn't feel her inner struggle.  On the other hand, I felt really connected with Dylan's story and his journey.  I don't have any idea what a life like that would be like, but the way she wrote him, made you really want to see him win.  I liked the twins ok, but find that she doesn't write kids all that involved in regard to this series.  I like to see the kids in a story as strong secondary characters. 

Other than that particular character development flaw, I found this book to be a good solid read.  I like Virgin River but find these last two to be weaker than others.  Hopefully she will get her VR mojo back in Sunrise Point.  Let's cross our fingers.

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