Finished Virgin River by Robyn Carr. This is the first book in her Virgin River contemporary romance/women’s fiction series.

After her husband is killed in a robbery gone wrong, nurse/midwife Melanie Monroe packs up and moves to the remote town of Virgin River. But things aren’t quite what they seem in town — for example, the rent-free cabin that Mel was promised is uninhabitable — but she decides to tough it out for a little while. Along the way, she makes friends in town, including Jack Sheridan, the owner of the local bar/restaurant. Mel is attracted to Jack, but she also wonders if it’s too soon to let go of her late husband’s memory and the love she had for him …

I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary romance lately, and Carr’s series is hugely popular, so I decided to check it out.

I really liked Mel, who is tough, capable, and keeps her head in a crisis. She loves being a nurse/midwife, and she’s darn good at it. I also liked the other residents in town. They felt like real people without being caricatures. And Carr described the scenery beautifully.

But I didn’t care much for Jack. When the book starts, he’s in a casual relationship with a woman in another town. Once he realizes how attracted he is to Mel, he goes to the other woman to break things off. That, I found admirable. But then, he hops into bed with the other woman, despite the fact that he was going to end things with her. That, I didn’t find so admirable. Later on in the book, the woman visits Virgin River and sees Jack with Mel, which only adds to her humiliation and heartbreak. Yes, Jack didn’t mean to hurt the other woman or lead her on. But still — not cool, dude.

The plots moves along at a nice, easy pace for most of the book, and Mel deals with everything from an abandoned baby to drug dealers. I thought that it was interesting and realistic that Carr showed that not everything is perfect in small towns. However, there were some things that happened at the end that were just a little too good to be true — and believable. Everyone’s problems were sort of magically resolved, including a big one of Mel’s. It took away from my enjoyment of the book.

I’m going split decision on this one. Thumbs up to Mel and the residents of Virgin River. Thumbs down to Jack’s behavior and some of the plot contrivances at the end.

Up next: The Hard Way by Lee Child.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.