Second chance pass by Robyn Carr - spoilers

[leeshaas]

This is the fifth book in the Virgin River series. Vanessa Booth was introduced to us in Whispering Rock (book 3), as the expectant mother who loses her husband Matt in an car bomb explosion in Iraq. His best friend, Paul supports her through the first few months of this difficult time and eventually also assists in the home delivery of her baby. Second chance pass picks up their story from here.

The reader is in on the secret that Paul has been carrying a torch for Vanni right from the beginning, his shyness making him take a step back and allowing his best friend Matt to court her, and in the end also marrying her.

We are forced to endure the unsure, inarticulate mutterings of Paul as he tries to state his case and the (understandably) impatient and bitchy reactions of Vanni. Frustrating the reader with their inability to communicate effectively. The characters do eventually redeem themselves, but this is one of those books where the story of the main characters takes the backseat. Quite a lot of time is spent on other key characters introduced in earlier books. And that is OK as the author did a good enough job endearing those characters to the reader. But I can only hope the next book to does not follow this trend.