Temptation Ridge (A Virgin River Novel, 6) - Softcover

Carr, Robyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778312909 ISBN 13: 9780778312901

Verlag: MIRA, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Welcome back to Virgin River with the books that inspired the hit Netflix series…

Shelby McIntyre has big plans—plans that include finding Mr. Right. Her dream man will have a clean-shaven jaw, creases in his pants and hopefully an advanced degree. What she gets is rugged Luke Riordan.

At twenty-five, after five years as her mother’s caregiver, it’s time for Shelby to experience freedom and adventure. Time for travel, college and romance. But when she visits Virgin River, she runs into Luke Riordan, decidedly not whom she has in mind.

A handsome Black Hawk pilot, Luke exited the army after twenty years, four wars and having been shot out of the sky three times. At thirty-eight, he’s tough and jaded. His major was in one-night stands, with a minor in commitment avoidance.

Technically, these two are all wrong for one another. But sometimes what you want and what you need are two different things…two very good things.

What you can expect in Temptation Ridge: 

• Small Town Romance
• Ex-Blackhawk Hero
• Age-Gap Romance
• New Beginnings

Don't miss Robyn Carr's next uplifting novel, The Friendship Club, where four women come together at a tumultuous time in their lives, forging an unbreakable bond that will leave them all forever changed!

Virgin River Novels:

• Book 1: Virgin River
• Book 2: Shelter Mountain
• Book 3: Whispering Rock
• Book 4: A Virgin River Christmas
• Book 5: Second Chance Pass
• Book 6: Temptation Ridge
• Book 7: Paradise Valley
• Book 8: Forbidden Falls
• Book 9: Angel's Peak
• Book 10: Moonlight Road
• Book 11: Promise Canyon
• Book 12: Wild Man Creek
• Book 13: Harvest Moon
• Book 14: Bring Me Home for Christmas
• Book 15: Hidden Summit
• Book 16: Redwood Bend
• Book 17: Sunrise Point
• Book 18: My Kind of Christmas
• Book 19: Return to Virgin River

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robyn Carr is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including highly praised women's fiction such as Four Friends and The View From Alameda Island and the critically acclaimed Virgin River, Thunder Point and Sullivan's Crossing series. Virgin River is now a Netflix Original series. Robyn lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit her website at www.RobynCarr.com.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Shelby was within ten miles of her Uncle Walt's ranch when she had to pull over to the side of highway 36, the busiest stretch between Virgin River and Fortuna, behind an old pickup truck that looked vaguely familiar. Although 36 was the highway that ran across the mountains from Red Bluff to Fortuna, it was mostly two lane. She put her cherry-red Jeep SUV in Park and stepped out of the vehicle. The rain had finally stopped, giving way to a bright summer sun, but the road was wet and splattered with muddy puddles. She peered way up the road to see a man wearing a bright orange vest holding a stop sign toward a long string of cars, closing both lanes. The turnoff to her Uncle Walt's would be on the other side of the next hill.

She picked her way around puddles to the truck parked in front of her, intending to ask the driver if he knew what was going on. When she got to the driver's window she smiled. "Well, hey, Doc."

Doc Mullins looked out the open window. "Hey, yourself, little girl. Up here for a weekend of riding?" he asked with his usual grumpy tone.

"Not this time, Doc. I sold my mother's house in Bodega Bay," she said. "Packed up the bare essentials and am moving in with Uncle Walt for a while."

"Permanently?"

"Nah. For a few months, though. I'm still in transition."

Doc's grimace melted slightly, but only slightly. "Once again, condolences on your loss, Shelby," he said. "I hope you're doing all right with that."

"Better all the time, thanks. My mom was ready to go." She tilted her head up the road. "Have any idea what's holding us up here?"

"Soft shoulder gave out," he said. "I passed it on my way to Valley Hospital. Dumped half this lane down the hill. They're repairing."

"Guardrails would be nice," she observed.

"Only around the tight curves," he said. "On a straightaway like this, we're on our own. Damn lucky a car or truck didn't go with that soft shoulder. It's going to be like this the next few days."

"Once I get to Walt's, I'm not planning to be on this road again, for a while anyway," she said with a shrug.

"What are you planning, if I might ask?" Doc said, lifting one of his bushy eyebrows.

"Well, while I'm visiting the family, I'll be making applications to schools. Nursing," she said with a smile. "A fairly obvious choice for me after taking care of my mother for years."

"Ach, just what I need," he said with his usual scowl. "Another nurse. Drive me to drink."

She laughed at him. "At least we won't have to drive you far."

"There's just what I mean. Another impertinent one, at that," he clarified.

She laughed again, loving this ornery old guy. Shelby turned, Doc leaned out of his window and both of them watched a man approach from the truck that had stopped behind Shelby's Jeep. He walked toward them. His hair was shaved down in that military fashion she'd been accustomed to all her life; her uncle was a retired army general. A black T-shirt was stretched tight over broad, hard shoulders, his waist narrow, his hips slim and legs long. But what fascinated her was the way he came toward them, with an economy of movement. Deliberate. Confident. Cocky. His thumbs were hooked into front pockets and he sauntered. When he got closer, she could see his very slight smile as he looked at her, or looked her over, to be more precise. Sizing her up with glowing eyes. In your dreams, she thought, which caused her to smile back.

As he passed her Jeep, he glanced inside at all the packed-up boxes, then continued to where she was standing beside Doc's open window. "That yours?" he asked, jutting his chin toward the Jeep.

"Yup."

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Virgin River. You?"

"The same." He grinned. "Any idea what's going on up there?"

"Collapsed shoulder," Doc said with a grunt. "They have us down to one lane for repairs. What's your business in Virgin River?"

"I have some old cabins along the river there." He glanced between them. "You two live in the town?" he asked.

"I have family there," Shelby said. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Shelby."

He took her small hand. "Luke. Luke Riordan." He turned toward Doc, putting out his hand again. "Sir?"

Doc didn't extend a hand, but rather gave a nod. His hands were so twisted with arthritis, he never risked a handshake. "Mullins," he said.

"Doc Mullins has lived in Virgin River all his life. He's the town doctor," Shelby explained to Luke.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Luke said.

"Another jarhead?" Doc asked, lifting one white, spiking eyebrow.

Luke straightened. "I beg your pardon," he said. "Army. Sir." Then he looked at Shelby. "Another marine?"

"A few of our friends who work in town are marines. Retired or discharged. Their friends come around sometimes—some of them are still active or in the reserves," she explained. "But my uncle, who I'll be living with for a while, was Army. Retired." She grinned. "You won't stand out that much with your hairdo. I don't know what it is with you guys and the buzz cuts."

He smiled patiently. "We've never been checked out on those dryer things."

"Ah. Blow-dryers. Right."

As they waited in their stalled lane, the second lane was opened up to let a big yellow school bus pass. Judging by the number of vehicles waiting in their lane, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, so there was no great rush to get back to their cars. They remained standing on the road, which ended up being a big mistake for Luke. As he saw the bus barreling down the other lane, Luke also noted a sizable puddle in front of it. He quickly put himself between Shelby and the bus, pressing her up against Doc's open window. With a hand on each side of her, he covered her with his body, barely in time to feel the splat from the puddle against his back.

Shelby stifled a chuckle. Macho man, she thought with some humor.

Luke heard downshifting, then the squeal of brakes. "Jesus," he muttered as he backed off the girl and glared after the bus.

As Luke turned and scowled at the bus, the driver leaned out the window. A round-faced woman in her fifties, rosy cheeked with a cap of short dark hair, grinned at him. She grinned! "Sorry, buddy," she said. "Couldn't hardly help that."

"You could if you went a lot slower," he yelled back at her.

To his astonishment, she laughed. "Aw, I wasn't going too fast. I got a schedule, y'know," she yelled. "My advice? Stay out of the way."

His scalp felt hot under his short hair and he really wanted to swear. When he turned back to Shelby and Doc, he found her smiling behind her hand and Doc's eyes twinkling. "You got a little splatter on your back there, Luke," she said, trying to keep control of her lips.

Doc's face was the same—cranky and impatient, but for the glittering eyes. "Molly's been slinging that big yellow tube around these mountains for thirty years now, and ain't nobody knows these roads better. Guess she didn't see a pothole this once."

"It's not even September yet!" Luke protested.

"She drives year-round," Doc said. "Summer school, special programs, athletics. Always something going on. She's a saint—you couldn't pay me enough to do that job. What's a mud puddle here and there?" Then the old doctor put his truck noisily in gear. "Our turn coming up."

Shelby jogged back toward her Jeep. Luke started to walk back toward his truck, which pulled a camper. Then he heard Doc, shouting at his back, "Welcome to Virgin River, son. Enjoy yourself." And it was followed by a cackle.

* * *

Shelby McIntyre had been fixing up her deceased mother's house for months, but she'd been able to drive up to Virgin River from Bodega Bay nearly every weekend through the summer to ride. And her Uncle Walt had paid many a visit to her to oversee renovation work that he'd personally contracted. By the end of summer Shelby had roses on her cheeks. She had rolled up her shorts and her legs were tanned. Her thighs and butt had developed...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: MIRA
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0778312909
• ISBN 13: 9780778312901
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 448
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
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