A Virgin River Christmas (Virgin River, #4) by Robyn Carr

Summary:
Last Christmas, Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband Bobby. This Christmas she’s come to Virgin River to find the man who saved his life and gave her three more years to love him.

Fellow marine Ian Buchanan dragged Bobby’s shattered body onto a medical transport in Fallujah four years ago then disappeared as soon as their unit arrived Stateside. Since then, Marcie’s letters to Ian have gone unanswered.

Marcie tracks Ian to the tiny mountain town of Virgin River and finds a man as wounded emotionally as Bobby was physically. But she is not easily scared off. As Marcie pushes her way into his rugged and reclusive life, she discovers a sweet but damaged soul beneath a rough exterior.

Ian doesn’t know what to make of the determined young widow who forces him to look into the painful past and, what’s worse, the uncertain future. But it is, after all, a season of miracles and maybe, just maybe, it’s time to banish the ghosts and open his heart.
Summary taken from Goodreads.com

How could I possibly go through the Christmas season without reading this book especially since I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of this book up until a few weeks ago. Thankfully the series doesn't dictate that we have to read the books in sequential order.

This was by far my favourite Christmas-themed book this year! I love Robyn Carr and this series. I think that she's created a magical world that happens in a tiny town full of people with big hearts. I found myself drawn into the story once again like always even though this was book was shorter than her other books in the series.
It is my firm belief that Robyn Carr has a gift and the way that she makes creates her characters is amazing. I really loved Marcie she was just so likeable and despite being tiny she really did have as Ian said "the strength of a thousand soldiers" because of all she went through when her husband was wounded in battle. I think the romance between the two of them was perfect because they did things by their own rules they didn't lay out a five year plan but chose to wing it in a sense and let whatever happens happen. I think it was very touching how they helped each other through their pain. Marcie succeeded in bringing Ian out of his shell and helped restore him to his former self.

The fact that this book was set in my favourite little made up town around Christmas time made it a winner in my books. It had all the magic of the other books in this series but with a little bit of a Christmas miracle put in for good measure. I was so glad to see some familiar faces in the story like Mel, Jack, Doc, Preacher, Mike etc. They added more to the story in my opinion. Reading this was like coming home :) A great Christmas romance written by a wonderful author. If you haven't read this book or this series yet I strongly urge you to do so if you like Contemporary Romance, plus the author likes to add in a few steamy bits too as a bonus!

 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★