Kaylee is a suspense novelist. She has been having a hard time finishing her next book, because she is consumed with grief. Kaylee’s mother, who was also her best friend, died of lung cancer less than a year ago.

Kaylee decides to go to a family friend’s cabin in the mountains to write for months. She hopes the change of scenery will help her concentrate. When she arrives, the cabin is on fire. Since she rented her house out to someone else, Kaylee has no place to go.

Jack is the owner of the local bar. He and his wife Mel allow Kaylee to stay in their guesthouse temporarily. When Landry hears about Kaylee’s plight, he offers to rent her a small house on his property. Kaylee likes the house better than any other rentals she has seen in the area.

Landry trains dogs. After she moves in, Landry helps Kaylee conquer her extreme fear of dogs. Landry is a kind, attentive, and handsome man. It does not take long for Landry and Kaylee to develop a romantic relationship.

Kaylee starts befriending a young girl named Mallory after Mallory’s mother dies. Kaylee can relate to Mallory’s feelings of loss and hopes she will be able to become Mallory’s foster mother. Kaylee also makes amends with her estranged father Howie. Before renting Landry’s home, Kaylee thought she would spend Christmas alone and sad. Instead, she enjoys her holiday celebrations filled with people, pets, and lots of love.

Return to Virgin River was written by the amazingly gifted author Robyn Carr. Although good, the story is sickeningly corny. It reminded me of The Andy Griffith Show which took place in the fictional town Mayberry, North Carolina and aired on television in the 1960’s. The popular Virgin River book series has become a Netflix series. At the end of Return to Virgin River, Carr describes her experience watching her books come to life on the Virgin River set.

I have always been a fan of Robyn Carr. I adore the Virgin River series and have read everything she's written. However, I wish I had skipped this title. Spoiler Alert: I wasn't pleased with the way this story developed. It was missing the tension and chemistry of her other titles. Parts of it were not believable either. The main character, Kaylee, had a fear of dogs. Meeting one friendly dog and working with him a bit, completely alleviated her fears. She never encountered another dog in any sort of unsupervised manner and this portion of the story-line felt unrealistic. I will continue to read Robyn Carr, but I wish I had let my memories of the "old" Virgin River prevail.

After years away from the Virgin River world she created, author Robyn Carr returns with this new entry and does not miss a beat. The loving sense of community and caring is still very much evident, and it is a pleasure to re-visit well-loved characters. Kaylee and Landry meet in Virgin River at a time they both need to work through issues in their past, in order to lay a foundation for what they begin to realize they each want, a new life together. Many readers will be looking forward to this book and they will not be disappointed.

After twelve years Robyn Carr takes readers back to her beloved fictional town of Virgin River, California. In Return to Virgin River we meet Kaylee Sloan, an author with writer’s block brought on by the loss of her mother in the past year. Friends have graciously allowed Kaylee to stay at their summer home in Virgin River so she can finish her book. When she arrives she finds the fire department extinguishing a fire that has left the home uninhabitable. Someone suggests she go to Jack’s Bar for a bite to eat and perhaps a lead on where she can find a new place to rent.  The book takes off from there and I settled in for the enjoyable read I’ve come to expect from Robyn Carr. I loved catching up with several characters and places featured in previous books. And I loved seeing how Kaylee’s life changed in small ways that would impact the rest of her life. The Thanksgiving/Christmas theme played a big part in the book and led to the heartwarming ending. Return to Virgin River is a lovely gift to fans of the Virgin River series and Robyn Carr.