One of the biggest new shows right now is Virgin River season 5, with the returning Netflix romance show delivering even more romance and heartbreak in the lives of the occupants of Virgin River, and it's time to find other ways to enjoy the characters.
Not everyone knows this, but Virgin River is based on a series of books by an author called Robyn Carr. Fans of the show can get excited about the fact that there are a whopping 23 books in the series, so it goes quite a bit further than the show!
While Virgin River's accuracy to the novels varies quite a bit, reading these books is still a great way to bide time until future seasons of the show, or pace yourself if you're trying not to binge the whole season in one.
So, for fans of Virgin River or romance novels in general, here's the order the Virgin River books were released in, with links to Amazon so you can buy them.
How to read the Virgin River books in order of release
- Virgin River
- Shelter Mountain
- Whispering Rock
- A Virgin River Christmas
- Second Chance Pass
- Temptation Ridge
- Paradise Valley
- Under the Christmas Tree
- Forbidden Falls
- Angel's Peak
- Moonlight Road
- Sheltering Hearts
- Midnight Confessions
- Promise Canyon
- Wild Man Creek
- Harvest Moon
- Bring Me Home for Christmas
- Hidden Summit
- Redwood Bend
- Sunrise Point
- My Kind of Christmas
- Return to Virgin River
- Holidays in Virgin River
Do you need to read the Virgin River books in order?
You don't actually need to read the Virgin River books in any particular order, because each one focuses on a different character. This is unlike the show, which introduces many characters at once and follows them over multiple seasons.
Even though some main characters come back in background roles, and there will be familiar locations between the stories, you'll easily be able to intuit any important information without having to read the previous books.
Saying that, there's not much need to read in a peculiar order unless you really want to!
Just note that, while most of the Virgin River stories are novels, some aren't. Sheltering Hearts is a novella while Under the Christmas Tree and Midnight Confessions are shorter stories that were originally published in anthologies. Holidays in Virgin River is an anthology itself, with some non-fiction content like recipes.
Virgin River collections
If you don't want to order upwards of 23 books online or on audiobook, there are thankfully collection sets that get you all the books in one go.
The exact collections offered vary by region, but you can find Virgin River collections on Amazon here. There are many four-book bundles available but some collect 10 or even 20 of them in one big super-set.
