Angel's Peak

author: Robyn Carr
genre: Romance, Military Romance, Part of Virgin River Series
Grade: B+

I love military romances. That old saying about there just being something about a man in uniform? It is definitely true when it comes to books.

Angel's Peak is the 10th book (or thereabouts) in the highly popular Virgin River Series.

Here is the blurb from Amazon:

Four years ago, Air Force sweethearts Franci Duncan and Sean Riordan reached an impasse. She wanted marriage and a family. He didn't. But a chance meeting proves that the bitter breakup hasn't cooled their sizzling chemistry.

Sean has settled down in spite of himself—he's not the cocky young fighter pilot he was when Franci left, and he wants them to try again. After all, they have a history…but that's not all they share.

Franci's secret reason for walking away when Sean refused to commit is now three and a half: a redheaded cherub named Rosie who shares her daddy's emerald-green eyes. Sean is stunned—and furious with Franci for the deception.

News travels fast in Virgin River, and soon the whole town is taking sides. Rebuilding their trust could take a small miracle—and the kind of love that can move mountains.

There is a lot to like about this book, in spite of the secret baby plot. Franci and Sean are both interesting people, well written and very believable. These are almost folks you can picture running into around town. Franci's arguments for keeping the baby a secret are compelling, although in the end I felt they were still a little lame. The fact was she had her feelings hurt, she felt rejected and I got the sense that she was sparing herself the pain of having Sean reject the child or even be with the child and make her feel even more unwanted by not wanting both her and the baby. Or in other words, it was a selfish decision, made slightly less selfish by how Sean behaved at their breakup.

I really loved how Carr kept the spotlight on her main characters again. At least 3/4 of the book is about Sean and Franci, with appropriate "guest appearances" from family members and townspeople. The moments we get with Luke and Shelby, Art, Noah and Ellie, all blend in nicely with the story and "fit" with the tale being told. Part of the fun in reading a series is doing that checking in with former characters and I really liked it in this novel and felt that it was kept in a good balance with the main romance being told.

I liked Sean and Franci's romance. It didn't dwell overmuch on the bitterness of the past but showed how they blended together as a couple and as a family.

The way Virgin River, Sean's metamorphosis into perfect family man, and how the two mom's bonded all seemed a bit rose colored but this is a romance. Some rose coloring is an absolute must!

The reasons the book wasn't an A read for me are as follows:

-- I didn't like the secondary romance between Maureen and her suitor. I would have far preferred for Maureen to be able to be on her own and for at least one character to show it was OK for a woman to be without a man, that romance doesn't always have to be in the air for everyone. It's great to have a love story but does every last person around them have to have one.

-- I didn't like Maureen's love interest. Too smooth and polished.

-- I felt that the ex character didn't need to be a villain. It is OK to break up with someone because you prefer someone else. Especially when it was at the level of commitment it was at.

-- I think this has just got to be the way I am reading it because I can't imagine the author is actually doing this but the changing of Maureen's character felt a bit forced. Like we were being told that being a certain way, Maureen's way, was just wrong and she needed to become another way to be likable. It just, for lack of a better term, sat wrong with me.

I spent a lot of time on quibbles but really I enjoyed this book in the series (hey B+!) and am looking forward to the next one.

maggie b.