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Although Aidan Riordan looks like a mountain man with his scruffy red beard and sweat-stained hiking clothes, he's not the vagrant he appears to be. He is, in fact, a respected OB/GYN, fresh out of the navy. Not quite sure of his next move, Aidan's summering in quiet Virgin River - the ideal spot for hiking, biking, and doing some deep thinking about his future. Living in one of his brother's riverside cabins also means the doctor will be close at hand, just in case his very pregnant sister-in-law has any complications with the birth of her first child.

Aidan's been so burned by past romances that the last thing he's looking for is a woman. Especially not a snooty, citified, lawyerly type. But that's exactly what he finds when he's out exploring the landscape. His sudden appearance frightens Erin Foley - a hardworking tax attorney who's trying hard to enjoy the only vacation she's ever taken - so much that she ends up in the hospital. It's only fair that Aidan pay her back with a little yardwork, a little handyman help, a little adventure. She's not exactly his type and he's only showing up at her cabin (daily) to apologize for the concussion he gave her. At least that's what he's telling himself. The fact that she's beautiful, sexy, and passionate has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.

Except that maybe it does. The more time Aidan spends with Erin, the more he craves her presence. It's not just her body that attracts him, but her compassion, her surprising vulnerability, and her fierce devotion to her family. Winning her love won't be easy, especially when Aidan's whack job of an ex-wife shows up in town. Can he convince the cautious lawyer to take a chance on him? Or will she march back to the city and bury herself in the one thing she knows will always be there for her - her work. In a place where even the most unlikely romances blossom daily, can this mismatched pair find their way to happily ever after?

Meanwhile, Luke Riordan's got some 'splainin' to do to Art, a young man with Down's Syndrome who's convinced he's found his bride. And Mel's got a secret goal that's going to bring a little turbulence into the Sheridan's rock solid marriage. Of course, we can't forget Maureen Riordan, a sainted mother who's living in sin in a fancy RV and making no apologies about it. For a tiny town in the boondocks, there's an awful lot going down in Virgin River.

Moonlight Road, the latest installment in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series, follows the same path to romance that has been carved out in earlier books. Still, Aidan's a fresh character, who's charming despite some stalkerish tendencies. Erin didn't have nearly the backbone I wanted her to have (c'mon, she could have held out a little bit longer), but she was definitely a sympathetic character who deserved good things to happen to her. Mel's problem gave the novel a lot of depth - I don't want to spoil it, so I'm just going to say that her plight touched me on a very personal level.

Like I always say, there's never really a question about how a Virgin River novel is going to end. The fun is in what happens along the way. And when it comes to a couple like Aidan Riordan and Erin Foley, well, there's never going to be a dull moment. Stepping into Virgin River always feels like coming home - with stories like these, I promise you'll be visiting again and again and again.

(Readalikes: previous titles in the Virgin River series and the Grace Valley series by Robyn Carr)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for language and sexual content

To the FTC, with love: I received a copy of Moonlight Road from the always generous Robyn Carr. Thank you!

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

You can hardly open a YA book these days without encountering some kind of monster. You've got your blood-sucking vampires, your slavering werewolves, your flesh-eating zombies, your mindless, murderous demons - even Tinkerbell's kin have been depicted as evil, child-stealing ogres. Still, no matter how nasty these fantastical beasts may be, they can never compare to monsters of the real, live, human variety. The kind we meet every day. The kind who are so open, honest and trustworthy that we don't notice the flash of their "fangs" until it's much, much too late.

In Stolen, a stunning debut from newcomer Lucy Christopher, 16-year-old Gemma Toombs meets this exact kind of devil in the Bangkok airport. The man seems so familiar that she allows him to prepare her a coffee - which he promptly drugs. When she finally wakes up, Gemma's a long way from Bangkok. A long way from anything, in fact. Isolated on a compound somewhere in the Australian Outback, Gemma's surrounded by nothing but desert. Her captor, the disturbingly gentle Ty, doesn't even bother tying her up. He knows she can't escape. There's nothing around for miles and miles, nowhere at all for Gemma to go.

As the weeks stretch on, Gemma comes to understand the wilderness and her sole companion in ways she never thought possible. Still, there's so much she doesn't know: Why has Ty chosen her, of all people, to kidnap? What does he really want from her? How does he know her family's secrets, the truths Gemma can't even admit to herself? And why is she suddenly feeling so much empathy for the man who has stolen her away from everything she knows? Can she escape? Does she even want to?

Written in the form of a letter from Gemma to Ty, Stolen grabs the reader right off the bat and just doesn't let go. It's not the frenzied, action-packed, race-against-time story I thought it would be, but more of a quietly sinister psychological thriller. The unique setting only adds to the tension, its terrible beauty coming alive in Christopher's skilled hands (the author was born in Wales, but raised in Australia). Not every detail of the plot rang true for me, but all in all, the story held me captive. I tore through it in one day, hardly daring to breathe until I knew exactly what happened to Gemma and Ty. Even then, Stolen wouldn't quite let me go - I'm still turning it all over in my head. I know one thing for sure, though: I want to read more Lucy Christopher. And soon.

(Readalikes: I can't think of any. Can you?)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language and tense, mature situations

To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Stolen from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!