Here are 12 books that Virgin River fans have personally recommended once you finish the Virgin River series.
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I came from a country town in Australia and I love the sense of community that’s still so woven into the fabric of society in country towns. That enjoyment drove me to write the award-winning Hope Creek Series, which has all the elements of small town romance I admire. The importance of a strong sense of identity within the community, support from townspeople in keeping each other’s secrets or in rallying around to try to help each other in times of crisis. The willingness to stand by a mate despite the mate being flawed.
I’m Australian, and I really enjoyed this series that was based in a fictitious coastal town in Australia because the setting was so similar to a coastal setting close to where I grew up.
I thought that Joanne Speirs did very well navigating the difficult relationships some of her characters had, and believe that most readers will really connect with the characters and the obstacles they must overcome. Themes of healing and community were central to this series, and this is obvious from the very first book, Second Chance Love in Point Perry, where Erin comes to Point Perry for a fresh start.
I found Joanne Speirs has an engaging writing style that was very easy to read. Each story in the series is interesting and well-crafted.
After a devastating tragedy shakes Erin's world, she returns to her hometown of Point Perry seeking solace and a fresh start. But just as she begins to find her footing, an unexpected visitor and an old enemy threaten to upend her life once again. Tom, a devoted single father and beloved teacher, is no stranger to turmoil. His ex-wife, now a Hollywood starlet, has descended upon Point Perry for her movie premiere, stirring up trouble and putting Tom's priorities to the test. As the town buzzes with excitement over the event, Tom must also navigate a strained relationship with his…
I came from a country town in Australia and I love the sense of community that’s still so woven into the fabric of society in country towns. That enjoyment drove me to write the award-winning Hope Creek Series, which has all the elements of small town romance I admire. The importance of a strong sense of identity within the community, support from townspeople in keeping each other’s secrets or in rallying around to try to help each other in times of crisis. The willingness to stand by a mate despite the mate being flawed.
The Dream Harbor series is a collection of stand-alone novels set in Dream Harbor, and I love that the small-town romance series has recurring characters that I was interested in and felt as though I’d bonded with.
One of the classic tropes used in this series is especially evident in book one (Pumpkin Spice Café in Dream Harbor) and it’s a trope I love. The author has made the most of these opposites-attract characters to produce some very witty banter that had me laughing out loud.
There’s a lot of personal growth of Laurie Gilmore’s characters, and I felt the romance was truly heartwarming.
The first book of the viral Dream Harbor series by #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Laurie Gilmore! 🍁
TikTok Made Me Buy It - Winner of the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024, Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller. As seen on Good Morning America!
🍁🍁🍁🍁
When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Cafe in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.
Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs.…
I love romance, a true romantic from the day I was born. I also love crime/thriller/twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to turn the page. As a writer, it was the most natural choice to combine all of these to bring to you as a reader love, passion, danger, shady criminal underworld, and jaw-dropping cliffhangers mixed in with twists you never saw coming. A love story that has you hopelessly entwined with them. A beautiful backdrop of the highlands of Scotland that creates its own unique story –mystical, mighty, and carrying its own hidden dangers.
This one gets you by the gut from the get-go with a four-year-old Callie left all alone in a roadside café.
Nobody knows why she is there or where her mother is. Fast forward to present day and Callie arrives in a small town, trying to escape the media of her childhood. Here she meets the rather dashing police officer Nate who soon finds himself falling helplessly in love with her.
Yet her past can’t be forgotten and together they start researching what happened to her mother. But is Callie truly ready for what really happened and is she in danger herself?
*READERS' FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD SILVER MEDAL WINNER.
Three Siblings. One Year. Everything Changes.
Stained glass artist Callie Davis is in desperate need of a vacation. Burnt out and on the edge of a nervous breakdown, she’s taking refuge on Massachusetts’ tiny Carter Island. Callie yearns for long, lazy days and pretty walks on the beach—blessed solitude and an escape from the pressures of her career and complications of her life. Then she bumps into gorgeous Nate Carter, and everything changes.
Sheriff Nathan Carter couldn’t be happier now that the height of the summer season has finally come and gone.…
I love romance, a true romantic from the day I was born. I also love crime/thriller/twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to turn the page. As a writer, it was the most natural choice to combine all of these to bring to you as a reader love, passion, danger, shady criminal underworld, and jaw-dropping cliffhangers mixed in with twists you never saw coming. A love story that has you hopelessly entwined with them. A beautiful backdrop of the highlands of Scotland that creates its own unique story –mystical, mighty, and carrying its own hidden dangers.
Eli is a broken man, running from his own demons and past and looking for a safe haven at Whiskey Beach (just like the character from my book, Sophia).
He believes he has nothing to give, certainly not as a writer... until Abra comes into his life. Yet dangers are lurking near and they are both being watched. Love, danger, and a beautiful setting.
Eli Landon seems to have the perfect life. A beautiful wife, a wonderful house, a dazzling legal career. But when his wife is brutally murdered after confessing to an affair, Eli is named prime suspect. After a year-long ordeal the case is dropped for lack of evidence, but Eli's world is in tatters.
Abandoned by his friends, hounded by the media and a detective with a grudge, Eli retreats to the small-town sanctuary of Whiskey Beach. Camping out in his grandmother's atmospheric house by the sea he meets Abra Walsh - compassionate, courageous and hiding secrets of her own.
I came from a country town in Australia and I love the sense of community that’s still so woven into the fabric of society in country towns. That enjoyment drove me to write the award-winning Hope Creek Series, which has all the elements of small town romance I admire. The importance of a strong sense of identity within the community, support from townspeople in keeping each other’s secrets or in rallying around to try to help each other in times of crisis. The willingness to stand by a mate despite the mate being flawed.
I don’t mind a little bit of spice in romance books, but I also enjoy the sweeter romances that RaeAnne Thayne writes.
I agree that they have a real Hallmark flavour to them, and while I don’t write that style, I loved the Haven Point series. I find this author’s focus on families very satisfying; I love the relatability of her characters and the deep dive into the emotional connections between them.
I also like the way she handles more sensitive topics such as grief and depression. I think it’s really important to include such very important topics in romance novels, as I think the way the characters handle the situations they face can be an inspiration sometimes for readers who are going through similar dilemmas.
'A rising star in the romance world.' bestselling author Debbie Macomber
The first book in the New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne's Haven Point series.
A fresh start is all Eliza wants for Christmas...
Nothing short of a miracle can restore Eliza Hayward's Christmas cheer. The job she pinned her dreams on has gone up in smoke and now she's stuck in an unfamiliar little town for Christmas.
Enter Aidan Caine. He can help Eliza find the perfect Christmas project - the renovation of his lakeside guest lodge. Soon he sees how quickly he could fall for her.…
I came from a country town in Australia and I love the sense of community that’s still so woven into the fabric of society in country towns. That enjoyment drove me to write the award-winning Hope Creek Series, which has all the elements of small town romance I admire. The importance of a strong sense of identity within the community, support from townspeople in keeping each other’s secrets or in rallying around to try to help each other in times of crisis. The willingness to stand by a mate despite the mate being flawed.
Whilst I enjoy the overall feel of the community spirit and support in small-town romances, I also appreciate laugh-out-loud moments.
Kristan Higgins incorporated humour masterfully, so I was laughing one moment, then being moved to tears by the emotional depth, which had me empathising with characters who were real. The characters were flawed but so loveable that I was rooting for them to find their happy ever after endings!
I found my emotions see-sawing a bit as I read this book, but this made the payoff of the happy ending all the sweeter.
Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…
Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….
Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting…
I love drawing gorgeous, interesting settings. Ever since my parents drove my brother and me across America to visit our cousins in Michigan, I have found myself enchanted by everything from sweet small-towns to pit stops with lots of potential for drama. I have always felt that setting can be its own character. With its bright, sunny suburbs and its dark, shadowy back-alleys, the setting is the centerpiece of any great story.
You might not think about Sparks as a go-to for sweeping countryside settings… and yet his treatment of the North Carolina lends itself so sweetly to this romance, that I bet the story wouldn’t be the same without it. There is something so sexy about a handsome man in blue jeans ambling down a country lane.
A U.S. Marine's brush with death leads him to the love of his life in this New York Times bestseller of destiny, luck, and the redemptive power of romance. After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm.
Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the woman…
I love drawing gorgeous, interesting settings. Ever since my parents drove my brother and me across America to visit our cousins in Michigan, I have found myself enchanted by everything from sweet small-towns to pit stops with lots of potential for drama. I have always felt that setting can be its own character. With its bright, sunny suburbs and its dark, shadowy back-alleys, the setting is the centerpiece of any great story.
This book was a surprise hit for me. I’d never read Martin before, but my husband knew I appreciated adventure stories. What I got instead, was a little bit of everything. Adventure, romance, excitement, and more—The Mountain Between Us was unputdownable for me. I think, though, that its dangerous, snowy setting was the one thing that upped the stakes the most. When reading this book, I felt trapped in the snowy mountains, myself. I felt cold and hungry, thirsty, and…totally swept away.
Now a major motion picture starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. An atmospheric, suspenseful and gripping story of two people finding love while fighting to survive.
When a blizzard strands them in Salt Lake City, two strangers agree to charter a plane together, hoping to return home; Ben Payne is a gifted surgeon returning from a conference, and Ashley Knox, a magazine writer, is en route to her wedding. But when unthinkable tragedy strikes, the pair find themselves stranded in Utah’s most remote wilderness in the dead of winter, badly injured and miles from civilization. Without food or shelter,…
I became fascinated with history when I moved to Gloucester in the nineties. The city is hugely historical from the early Roman settlers through to the industrial age of the nineteenth century. What is more fascinating is that many of the streets and buildings I write about still exist in the city today. I carried out extensive research when writing my first historical fiction novel to immerse myself in the medieval city as it would have been in 1497. When I came to write my second novel, listed below, the first book in the Hebraica Trilogy, I already had a good idea of the layout of the city.
I loved this book because it is another time-slip novel, but mostly because of the characters that Gabaldon has created. Claire is a strong woman both in the present time zone–post-war Britain–and the Scottish Highland time zone of the seventeenth century and the uprising. You sense immediately that she is in danger as the story is told from her point of view.
I loved learning about the lives of the Scottish highlanders, how the story moves from one-time zone to another, and how the characters overlap.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The first book in Diana Gabaldon’s acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series.
One of the top ten best-loved novels in America, as seen on PBS’s The Great American Read!
Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion…
I love to see complicated characters rising to the occasion. People in real life generally have a lot going on just handling the day-to-day, and they aren’t waiting around for adventure, romance, or mystery to find them. It feels very human to me to see characters struggling with more mundane things like social situations, worrying about their appearance, or holding down a job, rather than only focusing on the plot arc, and that’s the type of character I also focus on as a writer. My latest protagonist, Simon, definitely has enough problems without a missing-person case to solve, so he may be what got me thinking of this topic.
I have always loved literary thriller queen Daphne Du Maurier's complex and resilient characters, and Mary Yellan is no exception. Everything’s looking pretty miserable for her after her mother’s death forces her to give up the family farm and her hometown to live in a creepy inn with her miserable aunt and aggressive drunk of an uncle.
So I really enjoy how brave and resourceful she is in getting past violence, danger, miserable living conditions, a desolate setting, and bad taste in men to find out whether something more sinister than smuggling is going on at the empty inn.
After the death of her mother, Mary Yellan crosses the windswept Cornish moors to Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. There she finds Patience a changed woman, downtrodden by her domineering, vicious husband Joss Merlyn. The inn is a front for a lawless gang of criminals, and Mary is unwillingly dragged into their dangerous world of smuggling and murder. Before long she will be forced to cross her own moral line to save herself.
