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Robyn Carr
Contemporary Romance
Thunder Point/Book 1
Harlequin/March 26, 2013
Nestled on the Oregon coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land's unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he's been left an old friend's entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community's destiny in his hands.
Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.
With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.
Happiness is a new Robyn Carr book! When the setting is on the beautiful Oregon coast, that just sweetens the deal. I've enjoyed Ms. Carr's Virgin River series and I'm sure there will be some comparisons but The Wanderer and its Thunder Point setting stand on its own.
Hank Cooper is in for a surprise when he lands in Thunder Point. It isn't at all what he expected - not the town or the property his friend left him. Soon he comes to know not only the town but the people, especially Sarah Dupre. Hank is a lone who really doesn't want to be alone, he just doesn't know it yet. The property and Sarah bring out this need to not only feel needed but to belong. I liked how Carr brings Hank around to seeing that it is okay to not only want but need to stay in one place.
Sarah Dupre is a woman with a lot of responsibility. Sarah is kept busy juggling her job, raising her teenage brother and her Great Dane Ham. She's looking for a good, stable town to raise her brother Logan. She hope's to find that in Thunder Point. One thing I appreciated in this story was seeing Sarah and Logan interact. It's a delicate balance between being big sister and stand-in parent and Sarah isn't perfect but her heart is in the right place.
Hank and Sarah work well as a couple. We can see how they become comfortable as a couple which is a nice change from some romance where the hero and heroine continue to fight the obvious. It wasn't a rushed romance but developed at a slower pace, due I think to how busy they both are with responsibilities they can't easily shrug off.
I liked a number of the secondary characters and can easily see myself anticipating their stories. Thunder Point has that small town feel Carr is known for but still has plenty of influence from the outside world, giving readers a number of different issues to relate to.
I'm sure Ms. Carr's fans might miss trips to Virgin River but Thunder Point will no doubt have them coming back for more.
Rating: A-
I think that there will inevitably be comparisons to Virgin River, but i agree that it is sufficiently different. It was nice to see Hank make himself start compared to Jack who was already so established in VR when we first met him.
ReplyDeleteMarg ~ Agree. Hank and Jack didn't feel like same hero/different location but two very distinct heroes.
ReplyDeleteNice review, Leslie! I just finished reading The Wanderer today! I was worried that it'd be too similar to Virgin River and I was happy. As you and Marg agreed, it's different enough :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the romance! The slow pace of everything. I'm looking forward to the next one which is a good thing :)
I may give this book/series a shot, Leslie. I like Robin Carr but gave up on the Virgin River series (too long already). A fresh series is a wonderful way of going back to reading works by this author.
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