I just couldn't help myself. I needed to know what happened to Jack and Mel, and so just ploughed straight on with the series and I devoured book 2 in the series in less than a week.
There's not a lot of preamble here - I was just keen to crack on, based on how much I enjoyed the first book, and the aforementioned small town America chic that I just can't get enough of (we can add Shitt's Creek to the list now too!)
If you missed my review of book 1 in the series - you can find that here.
Book 1 was all about Jack and Mel - it was so deeply involved with them as a couple, I felt a little bereft of the other characters so beautifully brought to life on screen. Sure - they were all name dropped, but you didn't really discover them like you did on screen.
Of course I love Jack and Mel, and it really did feel like you got swept up in their romance - but at the cost of the supporting characters. I thought book 2 would be much the same - the Jack and Mel story with other characters dropping in here and there, but boy was I wrong.
Jack and Mel have become the peripheral characters, and instead Preacher and Paige take central stage. We're always learning a little more about other characters, and you see some story arcs for the other characters this time, but most of this story is told from Preacher and Paige's perspective.
Paige turns up in Virgin River - to Jack's bar - in the middle of the night. She's runaway from her abusive husband who has almost killed her one time too many. She finally grabbed a bag, her son and got in her car and just drove. Except she got turned around, and when she sees the neon open sign still on, she stops off.
Jack has moved in with Mel, and so Preacher now lives behind the bar alone. He's just closing up, but sees how nervous and shaken this woman is, and he can't help but want to do anything he can for her.
Preacher persuades her to stay the night, as her son has a slight fever and he explains that there's a midwife who works just across the way. He wouldn't charge her for the room, and he shows her how to lock the door from the inside. He moves her car out of sight from the street and locks the bar up tight.
She starts to feel comfortable - safe even - with Preacher around. She starts to find her confidence again, and remembers who she was before her abusive husband... and the story unfolds from there. She lives in constant fear that her ex will turn up at any point and come for her, but with Preacher and Jack protecting her, if he does turn up - he won't stand a chance, right?
Once again, it almost feels like déjà vu - the story is so close to the TV series, but also some serious differences, which change the story entirely. At first I thought the rewrite for the screen was a better story, but now I've finished the book, I much prefer the original source. I think it's more realistic, and there's still enough drama to make it interesting.
It is still ultimately a romance novel, and some of it I find a bit too cheesy. There are some definite similarities between the relationship of Preacher and Paige, and Jack and Mel, which almost feels like lazy writing. I don't dislike it, but wanted to feel differently about this relationship than I did the other, which the author didn't wholly deliver. However, in saying that, there is an almost thriller element introduced, with the constant threat of Paige's ex and the lengths he'll go to to ensure her misery.
I did enjoy this book, and I will happily plough on to book 3. I'm interested to know who the spotlight will be on next. It feels like I'm slowly learning more about the different characters, who I know from the show, but I don't know what to expect from the books.
I still recommend this book - it hasn't put me off the series yet! You must read book 1 first, as it does continue from there, and you might be at a bit of a loss about some of the background of the characters. But you could probably get away starting here. It's not rocket science, things become clear as you read - however, I recommend reading the courtship of Jack and Mel, because it's such a lovely story!