I read this for work, as a book "outside my comfort zone". It was okay, but I got impatient for it to be over. It was just kind of blah - a book about nice people living a mostly nice life in a mostly nice community. It had a small bit of not-pornografically-descriptive sex in in it, so it would be a pretty safe choice for people seeking a "clean" romance to read.

Single father Mac and single mother Gina have always set aside their own hopes and dreams for their children. Now just when it looks like they might finally find some happiness with each other, Mac's ex-wife shows up wanting to reconnect and Gina's daughter suffers severe depression after her long-term boyfriend dumps her for another girl.

The Newcomer is a mosaic of stories which intersect in the town of Thunderpoint. As is Robyn Carr's style of writing, some stories will find their conclusion within the pages of a single book, while other stories will be revisited again in the coming books.

It works for me. I love that I will revisit Mac and Gina, Cooper and Sarah as the series progresses. I love that I'm getting to know characters in these books who will get their own story in future instalments.

Many thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

This is a wonderful series! I like the two story-lines per book. She still keeps you wanting more! I can't wait to read the next one! The sad part is that I read them so fast that I catch up to what has already been written and have to wait for the newest one!!! :)

This was fine for a nice afternoon read. I didn't like it as much as I ended up liking the first book in the series mainly because the lion's share of the book read like a PSA on teenage dating pitfalls.

Like the first book, this one started slow, so much so that I had a hard time sinking into it. The early pages almost read like a laundry list of stuff that people did...."he did this and then she did that and then they did this other thing". So, no, it wasn't catching me.

But eventually the story started to happen. It continues with Cooper and Sarah's romance, which is going along fine. I like Cooper more than I like Sarah -- mainly because Sarah feels like she is the least defined of all the main characters or maybe because she doesn't get as much of a POV as the rest.

I thought the story would center mainly on Mac and Gina. To some extent it did but not as much as I would have liked. Their respective exes make an appearance which is where the majority of the plot for them resides.

However my biggest problem with the book lie with the fact that much of the story was taken over by Gina's 16 y.o. daughter's dating problems. In the first book we met Ashley and Downey who were dating. Downey was a freshman in college while Ash was a junior in high school. In that book Downey was written as a decent level headed guy. Well in this book the author basically does a 180 on him. In the meantime we get treated to a somewhat, imo, pedantic primer on such things a teenage depression, online bullying, birth control, sexting, drug use etc.

On it's own, Ashley and Downey's romantic implosion wouldn't have been so bad and in places it was great drama, but on the whole it veered almost into after school special territory. Hence this was a weakness in this book for me.

When the story shifts back to Mac & Gina or Cooper, the book strengthens. I like the subplots with both the exes and I thought the author built a nice contrast between Mac's ex-wife and Gina's long absent baby daddy.

Cooper also gets a blast from his past that adds a interesting wrinkle to his story going forward. I did think there was a 'tied up in a convenient red bow' element to this plot development that had me rolling my eyes a bit. But still, I liked this plot so much more than the Ashley/Downey thing so I couldn't be too mad at it.

So overall good read. And even though I wasn't thrilled with the teen storyline, I am still looking forward the the next one to see how some of the dangling plot threads will resolve.

This is a book I was on the fence about, but after reading it, I've made my decision about the series. To me, this book focuses too much on the relationship from the previous book than the relationship that should have been its focus: Mac and Gina's. It was very confusing to me and I kept having to flip flop through chapters to pick up the thread of what happened with each couple when something good was happening! There is a lot of emotional angst and drama in this book, and I think the book suffers for it because it drew the focus away from the romance between the two couples. There is also a decided lack of trust on Sarah and Cooper's part that made things unnecessarily difficult. The book once again ends on a slight slight cliffhanger, leaving readers to wonder if one of the characters introduced has a romantic relationship with another female character introduced in the book. I’m giving this one 2 stars and won’t be continuing with the series. The flip flopping was just too much for me, and it makes me worried for trying to read Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series!

Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

I enjoyed The Newcomer even more than the first book in the series, The Wanderer. But given the blurb above, I was a little surprised by how seldom Mac and Gina take center stage together in this book. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been. Carr has always woven her romances with other storylines, whether about other couples or individuals. The Thunder Point series takes this tendency even further than the Virgin River books did; the romantic relationships become simply threads in the tapestry, rather than the central motif.

And there are a lot of threads to follow in The Newcomer! Gina and Mac’s relationship, which finally got started toward the end of the last book, is still developing. So is the love between Cooper and commitment-shy Sarah (The Wanderer.) Both bonds are tested in this book. Mac’s gorgeous ex-wife turns up, apparently interested in rebuilding ties with both Mac and their children – though her reappearance isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Meanwhile, Gina’s 16-year-old daughter Ashley goes through hell after her college baseball-star boyfriend dumps her. In the Cooper-and-Sarah department, Sarah faces a game-changing career decision which threatens not only her relationship with Cooper but her beloved brother’s senior year as a star football player. And Cooper gets some very unexpected news of his own.

What keeps all this from becoming a soap opera is the ordinariness of most of the people and situations. For the most part, Carr’s characters aren’t rich and glamorous, and they don’t usually wallow in drama (with the occasional exception.) They are everyday folks going about their everyday lives the best they can; they could be my neighbors, or yours. Carr is particularly good at making me care about all her characters: Mac and Gina, Sarah and Cooper, Ashley, Eve, and Landon, and even minor characters like Aunt Lou. And while the end of The Newcomer doesn’t promise a magically perfect happy-ever-after, the love and commitment of the two main couples shines clearly. I’m looking forward to the next installment, and hoping we see more of all these characters.

FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hadn't planned to read this for at least another three weeks but I just couldn't wait. My instincts were so right!

The Setup
This isn't a series where each story has one central conflict and one significant romance that wraps neatly at the end of the book. There a quite a few characters whose lives are connected either by familial ties, friendship or through the relationships of their children. Most are single parents or are filling that role and are trying to manage a romance while dealing with adult situations and the challenges faced by their teenaged children.

The Issues
Mac and Gina are trying to find time to be with each other though they still haven't quite clued their children in on the change in their relationship from good friends to lovers, well in love:) Both had their children when they were really young (Gina was 16 and Mac was 20) and are both pretty young. His oldest daughter, Eve, is Gina's daughter, Ashley's best friend. Ashley is going through a major turmoil because of her boyfriend and the issues are scary. Gina hasn't seen or heard from Ashley's father since before she was born and now may need to reach out to him. Mac's ex-wife suddenly shows up following a 10-year absence after having abandoned him with three little children at the time.

More Issues
Cooper, the earlier wanderer, is settling into Thunder Point and has finished renovating the beach bar. He's ready to have a lasting commitment with Sarah, the Coast Guard pilot whose job may create issues not only for them but her 16 year old brother, Landon. He's the high school standout quarterback, getting ready for his senior year and hopefully college scouts with scholarship money. Landon is also deeply involved with his girlfriend, Eve; yes, that's Mac's daughter. Cooper also gets stunning news that may turn his life upside down, as well as Sarah's, who still has commitment issues stemming from her last marriage.

Summary
I think you get the picture. What happens in one relationship has an impact on so many others in large and small ways. There were a lot of young adult issues presented in the story that were portrayed in YA and adult points of view, giving more power to the story. I know these people, care about them and am rooting for a good outcome.

I never found a good stopping point so I kept reading until I fell asleep in the wee hours and resumed when I woke up. As satisfying as the ending was, it was disappointing to have it come to a close. I won't delude myself when the third book is released...I'll plan to read it as soon as I get my hands on it. As much as I love the Virgin River series, the loves and lives of the residents of Thunder Point have captured my heart.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley)

This is the second book in Robyn Carr's Thunder Point series, the title is a little bit of a lie. I was expecting the major introduction of a newcomer, yet this book is primarily the continuation of Hank & Sarah and Mac & Gina's stories. It is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I give this book 3 1/2 to 4 stars; I liked The Wanderer a little better than this one.


Spoiler: My main issue this book is that Sarah stewed over the news that she was either going to be transferred or she'd have to quit for months. I felt this dragged on too long, and even though Hank was a DOG most his life he was far too tolerant with her moodiness.

Most of these romance-serial-type books tend to focus on a new set of characters and their relationship for each volume. The Newcomer was very much a sequel to The Wanderer, taking the story of Cooper and Sarah, Mac and Gina, and their various teenage kids to the next stage. While I enjoyed the story, I didn't feel it was anything special.