What We Find (Sullivan's Crossing, 1)

If you're a fan of the author, please feel free to skip this book review. It might be best of you did. In exchange for a free copy, I'm required to give an honest assessment. The views expressed are my own, based on personal taste. As with any book, your mileage may vary. That said...

...Maggie Sullivan is a neurosurgeon whose professional and personal lives are falling apart simultaneously. Finding her weeping in the stairwell at the hospital, a good friend and fellow doctor suggests she get away for awhile. Maggie packs her bags and heads for her father's home, which is a campground and general store near Aurora, Colorado. There she meets--and immediately is suspicious of--Cal Jones, a seeming drifter who has been helping out while camping and waiting for weather conditions to be more favorable to start a long hike on a famous trail. Unbeknownst to everyone, Cal is also running away from complicated problems.

Of course, Maggie and Cal are destined for romance. Some readers not only enjoy racy sex scenes, but expect them in a romance novel. Other readers avoid books that include them. If you're among the latter group, be forewarned that "What We Find" by Robyn Carr has very explicit and steamy sections tucked into its chapters. SPOILER ALERT: When the couple first tumbles into bed, I found myself wondering how a character who's supposed to be very intelligent could so quickly become intimate with a man whose real name she doesn't even know... let alone his history. It seemed kind of foolish. Initially, they're just friends with benefits. Then, predictably, he goes off on his long hike and Maggie isn't sure when or if Cal will return. They'll both have to recreate their lives and professions to be together, but at this point Maggie doesn't even know what profession he's in or any of his history. Not a terrific start. I wanted someone to shake her. Hard.

Don't get me wrong. There are several good elements to the novel. Yet there were places where I groaned, closed the book and took a break from it. Especially where Cal's parents were involved. Fans of Robyn Carr will NOT appreciate my take on "What We Find"... I sincerely apologize and intend no offense to the writer, publisher or those who love her novels. Every reader has individual tastes. A few of my friends would probably rate this 4 or 5 stars. I think "What We Find" is okay... maybe some light reading for a trip to the beach. You could love it. I hope you do.

Maggie Sullivan has had enough work, personal life issues, and emotional break downs to last a person a life time and she is only in her late 30’s. So when she said it was enough it was time to recharge her battery and spend some quality time at her father Sully’s cross roads camp ground. She had some bitter feelings toward the man so now is a good time to get that cleared up as well. What Maggie did not expect to find is a camper mysterious and the too cool camper Cal Jones. This man is long on conversation that provides no information and a lot of questions. Most important thing about Cal is the fact that he is providing calm to Maggie at a time when she needs it most and the rest will play itself out.

For Maggie a little rest and relaxation does not last long when a medical crisis hits her father and she has to step up and handle the general store that has been kept in her family for generations as well as keep that crabby man on his diet. Cal pitches in to stand next to Maggie as they clean a bathroom or stock a shelf creating time for them to converse about anything but the personal problems each is trying to muddle through. Every day brings them closer together but less sure of the future as there are quite a few problems hovering over Maggie that need resolving the least of which is her career.

As Spring rolls into Summer Cal and Maggie form a bond so strong that even time apart cannot ruin and makes them fall deeper in love. Fall comes into play and Maggie has to clean up the garbage from her career thinking this may end everything for her, but Cal does not hide for cover instead puts his hand out to help her up. As Cal unravels his tangled past and the two decide what the future will bring the one certainty is that they want to be together and working out those details may be the most fun of all.

I started this series on book two, worked my way through three and four, and finally made my way around to book one. I have loved getting to see the start of things even if it felt repetitive due to reading the others first. We get a more in depth look at some of the relationships and where it all started. It was sweet to watch it unfold.

I adore the setting of Sully’s campground, the characters who work there, and the struggles they are faced with. By the end of this book I felt like I was friends with these characters and became even more invested in them than I was before.

I love that Maggie (and Cal) were both faced with difficult situations. At first it seemed they ran away for comfort only to realized that they were taking a step back while they worked through it all only to find themselves and their futures more clear. Sully’s campground really does sound like a special place full of unexpected goodness. This was a quick and charming read that sets the tone for the books that follow.

Maggie Sullivan, a neurosurgeon in Denver, is being sued for malpractice, her boyfriend has broken off with her, and she’s just lost her baby. She seeks solace at a remote campground owned by her father. And she falls in love with an itinerant camper.
She’s only 35, but it seems very much like a mid-life crisis.
There’s lots of sex, so much so that it begins to feel like sex is the answer to all Maggie’s problems. I would have liked more about what’s going on inside Maggie’s head.

Loved, loved, loved! In this Robyn Carr book, Maggie is a successful neurosurgeon who has hit the wall--professionally and personally. She returns to the small Colorado town where her biological father runs a small store/campsite. Her plan is just to regroup, but circumstances force her into a more active part in running her father's establishment.
Cal is camping at the site when Maggie gets there. He appears to have no job, no goals, no nothing. He offers to pitch in and help even though Maggie is intent on giving him a hard time. Cal may not be what he appears to be. He offers his help until it is time for him to head for the trail. He offers no more, except some much needed company for Maggie and some comfort.
Maggie and Cal become closer and closer, but what will happen when he takes off. Will Maggie return to surgery? What will happen when Maggie finds out the truth about Cal? Will she be able to forgive him for not telling her the truth.
A lovely book for the story, the character and the feeling of the outdoors that Carr is able to imprint on your brain and in your heart

I give this novel 3.5 stars.

Robyn Carr has been one of my favorite authors, but I think I may take a break after this latest book, which is the start of another series (Sullivan's Crossing). I thoroughly enjoyed the Virgin River (California) series and was okay with the Thunder Point (Oregon) series; however latest offering is, in my opinion, not her best work. In fact, the small community settings coupled with the life stories of featured residents is beginning to wear thin as a formula for her novels.

In "What We Find" the focus is on Maggie Sullivan, a brilliant neurosurgeon who has endured a Job's list of stressful events both personally and professionally. Upon the advice of a colleague and close friend, she decides to take a leave of absence and return to her father's home in Sullivan's Crossing, Colorado to take some time for much-needed reflection and healing. A few weeks of R&R morphs into several months as she deals with her father's unexpected surgery/recuperation, her mother's dysfunctional attitude and a mysterious stranger with whom she eventually begins a "summer fling." As with all of Carr's books, the characters are interesting and well-developed, but in this instance, I didn't find them particularly likeable and engaging.

This is a quick read and a mildly entertaining book. I may give the second installment in this new series a chance, but I am lowering my expectations based on the Thunder Point series and this debut novel. For those who have not read Carr's works before, this may be an solid introduction, but I recommend the Virgin River series for her best writing.

WHAT WE FIND is the beginning of another heart-warming small town saga from Robyn Carr. This series is set in Colorado, at a place called Sullivan's Crossing, located near the intersection of the Continental Divide trail & Colorado trail.

At Sullivan's Crossing, there's a campground and general store, and it's all run by Sully, a cantankerous yet kindhearted guy who's been there forever. It's to Sullivan's Crossing that Sully's daughter, Maggie, returns, during a turbulent time of loss and great stress in her life. At the campground she encounters the very private Cal, someone else searching for calm and healing.

The easy pacing of this book was enjoyable, giving readers time to get to know the characters and the beautiful setting. Maggie is a strong and courageous woman, and if I was ever in trouble, I'd want her on my side. I was touched by Cal's back story and was rooting for him to find happiness again.

I didn't think the plot was particularly strong, though I know what the two main characters were headed for. Things had to be worked through. Closure first, then possibly a second chance at love? WHAT WE FIND is a solid start to the Sullivan's Crossing series, and I'd recommend it to any fan of romantic women's fiction.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a digital copy of this book. Thoughts are my own.

Another one of Robyn Carr's Terrific books. This is the first of the Sullivan's Crossing Series. I happened to read the second book first mistakenly but it didn't interfere with the sequence for me at all because in the series there are no cliff-hangers. There is so much emotion wrapped up in this story and how the characters, Maggie Sullivan, Cal Jones, Sully Sullivan & others in the town, look at their lives of past, present & what's out there for their future, good or bad. There's always great romance woven into her stories, laughter & some tears too. I just got the third book in the series & can't wait to read another wonderful story.

Boring!

Love Robin Carr's, and this one did not disappoint. Very satisfied.