Deep in the Valley

Deep in the Valley is the first book in the Grace Valley series by Robyn Carr. From the back cover.~

WELCOME TO GRACE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA-WHERE BLOOD RUNS THICKER…THEIRS ARE STRONGER…AND LOVE IS ALL THE MORE SWEET

Visitors to the town often remark about the valley’s peace and beauty-both of which are plentiful. Unlocked doors, front porches, pies cooling in the windows-this is country life at its finest. But visitors don’t always see what lies at the heart of a community. Or just beyond…

June Hudson grew up in Grace Valley, the daughter of the town doctor. Leaving only to get her medical training, she returned home and followed in her father’s footsteps. Some might say she shoes the easy, comfortable route…but June knows better.

For June, her emergency room is wherever she’s needed-or wherever a patient finds her. She is always on call, her work is her life and these people are her extended family. Which is a good thing, since this is a town where you should have picked your husband in the ninth grade. Grace Valley is not exactly the place to meet eligible men-until an undercover DEA agent suddenly starts appearing at all sorts of strange hours.

Everybody has secrets down in the valley. Now June has one of her own.

I had seen books by Robyn Carr for some time, but until my friend Paula suggested her books, I had not added her to my monster TBR list. I bought the first book in Robyn’s Grace Valley series based on Paula’s suggestion and absolutely couldn’t put it down. I love June and all the residents of Grace Valley. The town and the people in it really made me think of my hometown, which is another small town filled with characters. With Deep in the Valley, you get see pretty much every aspect of a close-knit small town. I absolutely loved the main character June. She is such a strong and independent woman, but still wants a husband and family as any other woman would at her age. When a mysterious man shows up in her clinic with another man with a gunshot wound, June is attracted to the mystery man and must find out more about him. We soon find out Jim is a DEA agent working undercover and he is just as attracted to June as she is to him.

The town must also band together to take care of their own. Whether it is to remove a minister who doesn’t treat the women of the town right, supporting a wife who has been abused for years by her husband, or helping a Vietnam vet get the medical help he and his family need. With the help of her long-time staff, including her father, and the new doctor June hired, Dr. John Stone, the town of Grace Valley is in good hands.

I loved Deep in the Valley so much I ordered the next 2 books in the series as well as the first 2 books in Robyn’s Virgin River series.