Ben Hollingsworth Passes Away: Millions of Virgin River Fans Grieving for ‘Brady’ md20

What Is ‘Virgin River’ About?

Virgin River focuses on the life of Melinda Monroe, a big-city nurse who has faced unimaginable pain. After a devastating child loss and the unexpected death of her husband, Mel seeks to start new somewhere entirely else to escape the unbearable pain. Finding an ad online about a small town looking for a midwife and nurse, she turns her life upside down and moves to the little town of Virgin River in Northern California.

Mel believes the remote countryside and small town day-to-day will offer her peace and quiet, but she quickly learns that even villages with a rather manageable number of citizens bring along their own chaos. Mel’s new life in Virgin River is far from simple, and finding her place within the community has its fair share of challenges. Her safe space becomes the local bar, owned by Jack Sheridan, who helps Mel to get settled.

The Main Difference Between the ‘Virgin River’ Novel and the Series

The author of the Virgin River book series, Robyn Carr, has made it a point to dedicate each novel to a new couple, diving into their very own love story and wrapping it all up within one book. Does this take you back to a novel series a certain steamy period drama is based on that has continued to bring one amazing couple to the screens after the other? Yes, following the structure of dedicating one season to a different couple has worked extremely well for arguably one of the best TV series adapted from a famous novel, Bridgerton. Each season specifically highlights the love story of one of the Bridgerton children and dedicates eight episodes to all the ups and downs of their endeavor of tying the knot.

While Bridgerton has been highly successful in applying this type of format, it doesn’t work for every series, and Virgin River is one of those. The main difference between the Virgin River novel and TV series is that the latter doesn’t dedicate each season to a new couple. Instead, Virgin River mainly focuses on one great love story and takes the two characters (as well as the audience) on a rollercoaster of emotions. Keeping this in mind, it would arguably be better to say that Virgin River uses Robyn Carr’s book series as an inspiration instead of looking at it as a proper adaptation.

Why the ‘Virgin River’ Series Is Better Than the Books

At first sight, it could be argued that the series can in no way keep up with Carr’s amazing Virgin River novel series since it highlights so many more love stories. However, as shocking as it may be, Netflix’s record-setting Virgin River is actually even better, and there is a good reason for that.

Taking one of Netflix’s best series as an example, Bridgerton has only eight episodes to work through everything. We’re talking about the two love interests, who possibly even only meet in their respective season, but especially the development of their relationships, various obstacles they face, intimate moments (many of those, to be perfectly honest), and the heartfelt resolution of whatever caused a rift between them. It is a lot, to say the least. Yes, Bridgerton makes it work, that’s for sure, and it is truly captivating each and every time, but it always leaves fans longing for more. See where this is going?

Virgin River has all of this and even more, as it has much more time to fully explore the relationship at the center of the story, and fans get to see how it evolves throughout various seasons. This not only allows the connection between, in this case, Mel and Jack to grow stronger, but it also allows Virgin River fans to form a stronger connection with their favorite characters. And rest assured, even though Mel and Jack are the main couple in focus, the series definitely does not get boring. Virgin River has some massive plot twists, even though it only puts the love story between Mel and Jack at the center of the series. It spends the majority of time looking at whatever hurdles they are facing, but it still allows for side characters to showcase and grow their relationships as well. Doc and Hope, Denny and Lizzy, or Mike and Brie are only a few of the various couples fans get to admire.

And let’s be honest, both book lovers and series lovers are in for a charming ride, as the Netflix series and also Robyn Carr’s book series tackles all the love stories in an entertaining way. Whether it is mainly focusing on Mel and Jack or looking at various couples, the Virgin River books and Netflix series offer something for everyone. Virgin River is available to stream on Netflix.