Forbidden Falls

author: Robyn Carr
genre: Contemp Romance
Grade: B-/C+

Here is the product description from Amazon:

Virgin River is abuzz with the news that a stranger bought the town's abandoned church on eBay. The buyer, a young widowed reverend, is a little like the building itself: in need of some loving care.

Noah Kincaid arrives ready to roll up his sleeves and revitalize his new purchase, but he's going to need some help. An ad in the local paper brings an improbable candidate his way.

"Pastor's assistant" is not a phrase that springs to mind when Noah meets brassy, beautiful Alicia Baldwin. With her colorful clothes and even more colorful past, Alicia needs a respectable job so she can regain custody of her children. Noah can't help but admire her spunk and determination, and she may just be the breath of fresh air he needs.

This unlikely duo may come from two different worlds, but they have more in common than anyone would have expected. And in Virgin River lasting happiness is never out of the question.

While this book is part of a regular series I love it was one I was iffy about purchasing. There were three reasons for that:

1) It dealt with a preacher. I tend not to like preachers in romance novels.
2) It had a Paul and Vanni subplot and I didn't like Paul and Vanni.
3) It didn't seem to fit with the rest of the novels. The characters weren't really tied in from another story and I had a feeling I wouldn't need any information from this book to understand future books.

A friend bought it and gave it to me though so I read it. On the positive side, Carr really concentrated on Noah and Ellie. The Paul and Vanni subplot was there but that was it. We heard a line or two, maybe a paragraph from/about previous characters but this book was streamlined and concise compared to recent books in this series. It's focus was on the two main characters. I really appreciated that.

Noah and Ellie were well written if a bit off the standard character assembly line. Noah was of course not your daddy's style of preacher but modern and hip with a greater concern for feeding the poor and helping the homeless than saving souls. Ellie dressed slutty but was as close to virginal as a gal can be who has had kids. She was hardworking and helpful and generally wonderful. Her ex was of course the villain in the piece. That everything would come together as it did was never in doubt. The abundance of coincidences felt comfortable, expected and acceptable.

In the end the fact that the book was very predictable but well written pushes it into the above average range but keeps it from getting a brilliant review.

Tea: Anything you find standard and predictable but enjoyable.