One Wish by Robyn Carr Series: Thunder Point #7
Published by Harlequin MIRA on March 1st 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
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Also in this series: The Wanderer, The Newcomer, The Hero, The Chance, The Promise, The Homecoming, A New Hope, Wildest Dreams
Also by this author: My Kind of Christmas, The Wanderer, The Newcomer, The Hero, The Chance, The Promise, The Homecoming, 'Tis the Season, Never Too Late, A New Hope, Wildest Dreams, What We Find, The Life She Wants, Any Day Now
Grace Dillon was a champion figure skater until she moved to Thunder Point to escape the ruthless world of fame and competition. And though she's proud of the quiet, self-sufficient life she's created running a successful flower shop, she knows something is missing. Her life could use a little excitement. In a community where there are few eligible singles, high school teacher Troy Headly appoints himself Grace's fun coach. When he suggests a little companionship with no strings attached, Grace is eager to take him up on his offer, and the two enjoy…getting to know each other. But things get complicated when Grace's past catches up with her, and she knows that's not what Troy signed up for. Faced with losing her, Troy realizes Grace is more than just a friend with benefits. He's determined to help her fight for the life she always wished for but never believed she could have—and maybe they can find real love along the way.
While it has never quite matched Virgin River in my affections, I really like Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point series, and always look forward to when the next one comes out. One Wish picks up with 2 secondary characters from The Homecoming: Troy Headly, the history teacher with a yen for Iris the school counselor (who is now married to policeman Seth Sileski), and Grace Dillon, who bought the florist shop formerly owned by Iris’s mother.
Grace’s backstory was one I would never have guessed. If I weren’t a fan of figure skating, I would have thought it was a little over the top. Since I do know a little about the figure skating world, though, I found it completely believable, and I love Grace as a character. She’s warm and quietly strong, a woman who left the bright lights and the cutthroat world of competitive skating for a life that feeds her soul. She’s complex but admirable. Unfortunately, Troy is less interesting; he’s likeable enough, and once he gets to know her better, he has Grace’s best interests at heart, but I never felt he had much depth as a character. The conflict between the two comes late in the game and almost out of the blue, and is resolved perhaps a little too easily. The tense and painful relationship between Grace and her mother, on the other hand, is very well done.
It’s always enjoyable to return to Thunder Point, too. We get a glimpse of Peyton and Scott’s wedding as a special treat, as well as brief encounters with some of the other Thunder Point inhabitants. And there’s a new young woman in town, whom I expect to see in some future novel. There are two more in the pipeline: A New Hope (sounds like a Star Wars movie!), which looks like it will take the series in a different direction, since it involves an unsolved murder (June 30), and Wildest Dreams (September; no synopsis available yet.)
I keep waiting for this series to live up to the Virgin River series, though, and so far it hasn’t, quite. The Thunder Point books are good, but on the whole they don’t sweep me away the way so many of the Virgin River books do. Don’t get me wrong – as I said at the beginning of this review, I like the series a lot. I just haven’t fallen in love with them the way I did with Virgin River and its characters. Think of it as the difference between the good friend you like to hang out with, and the guy who totally sweeps you off your feet for life – both are worth spending time with, but only one fills you with that special glow.
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Coyer eligibility: free (ARC)
The Thunder Point series in order:
- The Wanderer (review)
- The Newcomer (review)
- The Hero (review)
- The Chance (review)
- The Promise (review)
- The Homecoming (review)
- One Wish (review)
- A New Hope (forthcoming)
- Wildest Dreams (forthcoming)
About Robyn Carr
Robyn Carr is the RITA award-winning author of over 40 books. Set in small towns, her Virgin River, Grace Valley and Thunder Point series blend romance and women’s fiction, and often deal sensitively with issues including war-related injuries, PTSD, alcoholism, bullying, rape, and single parenthood. In 2010, she won RT’s Career Achievement Best Author Award for Contemporary Romance.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- COYER Winter 2014-2015
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
Oh this sounds fun! I have the first in the series and it’s coming up soon. Can’t wait! What you say about Grace’s backstory is interesting. I read a book about dog shows once and thought it was spot on but then I read a review slamming it saying that a couple of things “just couldn’t happen.” When in fact not only could they happen but they were pretty realistic. I’ll keep that in mind with this one! I do find sometimes with contemps that one of the characters (generally the guy) doesn’t have much depth. He’s always a great guy but there’s just not much there. Slightly annoying in a book but I guess it does happen in real life. Great review!
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…If the Viscount Falls – Review
Lark_Bookwyrm
You’re right that sometimes people have little depth in real life, but I have to wonder why someone with depth would choose to be with someone without much. Of course, sometimes you don’t really see what people are capable of until there’s a stressful situation, and you realize they have more than you thought. There’s a bit of that with Troy. Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
anna (herding cats & burning soup)
I need to read some more of hers sometime soon. I really loved some of the VR ones but haven’t made it into any of her others yet. I can’t believe there are already 7 of them. Holy cow!
anna (herding cats & burning soup) recently posted…The Monthly Herd–January Recap–kicking some blogger butt!
Lark_Bookwyrm
She writes fast!
Lily B
hummm.. I honestly cannot remember if I read anything by Robyn Carr before. I have a couple of her books as well, but boy.. I feel like this series just came out the other day and I didn’t realize it’s book 7 already o.o
Lily B recently posted…Review: Ready to Wed by Cindi Madsen
Lark_Bookwyrm
I know – she does write quickly but it doesn’t seem like two years since the first Thunder Point book came out.