Hidden Summit

November 21, 2011
The 17th in Carr’s Virgin River series (after Bring Me Home for Christmas) is sweet but lacks dramatic tension despite what should be a compelling premise. Leslie Petruso arrives in Virgin River, Colo., to escape an unpleasant ex-husband determined to be her best friend. Danson Conner witnesses a murder, enters a witness protection program, and is implausibly renamed Conner Danson before being sent to hide in the small town. Despite personal reasons to avoid intimacy, they nevertheless fall for each other. Rural life, the protagonists’ troubled backgrounds, and well-drawn secondary characters enhance the refreshingly realistic romance, but the denouement is too pat, as are the loose secondary elements of drug addiction, murder, and spousal abuse. Overall, this addition to the series offers a generally pleasant yet unexciting dip into a familiar setting. Agent: Liza Dawson Associates.

December 1, 2011
Conner Danson is the sole witness to a high-profile murder, and the San Francisco district attorney, concerned about his security before the trial, stashes Conner in Virgin River under an assumed identity and Brie Valenzuela's supervision. Although repeatedly cautioned to fly under the radar and avoid forming personal relationships, Conner is immediately attracted to Leslie Petruso, the new secretary at Paul Haggerty's upscale construction business, for which Conner currently works. Despite bad past marriages by each, Leslie and Conner gradually learn to trust again as the tightly knit community works its magic on two more newcomers. Carr's newest sexy contemporary romance continues the popular Virgin River series (Bring Me Home for Christmas, 2011) set among the towering mountains and redwoods of Northern California. With her customary attention to detail and the excellent characterization skills for which she is so beloved, Carr introduces new friends while updating fans on the continuing adventures of previous protagonists and the town in general.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)