Sunrise Point
By Robyn Carr
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Independence seems within the
grasp of Nora Crane when she sees a note on the bulletin board at the Virgin
River Presbyterian Church inviting applications for apple pickers at Cavanaugh
Orchard. Nora isn’t afraid of hard work. She’s willing to do almost anything
honest to support herself and her two daughters, two-year-old Berry and
nine-month-old Fay. Things are much better for Nora and her girls than they
were just a short time ago, thanks to the kindness of Pastor Noah Kinkaid and
other citizens of Virgin River. But as much as she appreciates the help, Nora
wants to earn her own way, and if walking 3.4 miles each way and picking apples
to earn a decent salary will allow her to give her children what they need, she
will do the work gladly.
Tom Cavanaugh is an ex-marine who has returned
home to help his grandmother run the family orchard. Once he couldn’t get away
from the farm fast enough, but deployment in a war zone gave him an
appreciation for the life that he could have following in his grandparents’
footsteps. Now he has big plans for the orchard and for his personal life once
he finds a woman with whom to share it. Nora Crane is definitely not that
woman. Tom is attracted to her, but he is looking for a woman like his
grandmother—“settled, smart, a strong moral code.” Nora, mother of two and
already divorced at twenty-three, could not possibly be that woman. Tome gives
her a job only when his grandmother intervenes for Nora.
As Nora and Tom work together, they
discover they have more in common than either suspected. Tom and his home seem
like a dream to Nora, and she realizes quickly that she needs to protect her
heart. Nora impresses Tom with her determination and work ethic, and his
protective instincts kick in. Soon they are spending time together after work,
and Nora and her daughters are winning his heart. His grandmother Maxie is
doing all she can to promote the match, but a visit from the widow of one of
Tom’s Marine buddies, who at first appearance is the kind of woman for whom Tom
has been looking. Nora also has baggage from the past as she must come to terms
with the father she believed had abandoned her.
Readers familiar with the series
will recognize Nora as the needy young mother who receives one of the community
Christmas boxes in Bring Me home for Christmas, Carr’s #1 bestseller. She is a
character who is both likeable and sympathetic from the beginning. She was only
nineteen when she became involved with a pro baseball player turned drug
addict, her mother kicked her out when Nora came home pregnant, and her father
ceased to be part of her life when she was six. Despite all these negatives, she
demonstrates a quiet, stubborn strength, and she is devoted to her children.
She also possesses intelligence, a sense of humor, and a kind heart. Tom is not
as immediately likeable. He makes snap judgments, and is too certain of his own
“rightness.” But his grandmother shakes him up a bit, his alpha caretaking is endearing,
his heart beats his head to the right place, and he proves himself sigh-worthy
material in the end.
As is usual with Carr’s books,
the secondary characters add richness to the story. I adored Maxie! She may be
seventy-four, but she is a vital woman who takes joy in her past, lives fully
in the present, and looks toward the future with hope. She loves her grandson,
whom she and her husband reared, but she sees his faults as well as his
strengths. And she doesn’t hesitate to call him on his wrongheadedness when
necessary. There’s an interesting clash between Jack Sheridan and Hank Cooper, another
former military man and friend of the Riordans. I expect to see Luke return in
one of next year’s books.
Sunrise Point
is the nineteenth novel in Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series. While I like some of the books better than
others, overall they show amazing strength for such a long-running series. Sunrise
Point is a strong addition. It’s more a hybrid of women’s fiction and
romance than straight romance since Nora’s journey is as important as her and
Tom’s relationship. The appearances by other Virgin River characters are more
limited than usual in this book, and this means that it can be read as a
standalone. If you like community-based stories, stories with a strong military
connection, or contemporary romance that showcases the extraordinary qualities
of ordinary people, you can’t do better than Robyn Carr’s Virgin River books.
I've read all nineteen Virgin River books plus the novellas. I think this makes it the longest-running romance series I've read, although Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple mystery series is up to twenty now. What's the longest running series you've read?
