I came across Victoria James quite by accident and I ended up liking her books. Her “Still Harbor” series is one of my favorites I’ve read. Book three in the Shadow Creek, Montana Series, is another charming story of tragedy, regrets, forgiveness and a chance at love and a future with no guilt.

Doctor Luke Thompson is the epitome of pain and guilt as tries to get over the fact that he was responsible for a tragedy that brought pain to innocent people. He never thought that he could take a guilt free breath until he unknowingly falls for the woman who is facing the loss due to his actions.

Gwen Bailey is one of the most sweetest, helpful and kindest persons that you can come across. Always thinking of others and coming from a family filled with love and support, it is hard for her to accept the truth about the love of her life Luke.

A story filled with pain and loss, hope and forgiveness, love and care, it takes Luke and Gwen and whole lot of time to overcome the guilt and pain. Another emotional love story by Victoria James, well written and narrated, “The Doctor’s Redemption” is filled with warmth and love.

This is the third story in the series which focusses on the Bailey family, their friends and family. In this story the hero is initially nicknamed ‘The Muffin Man’ - he’s the hunk who comes into Gwen’s Chocolaterie shop every morning and always has a muffin but rarely has any conversation with her or the other members of staff. He’s a brooding, tired looking, mystery who intrigues her. However, she’s also feeling dissatisfied with herself and her life. She’s always wearing frumpy, ill fitting, baggy clothes and in serious need of a fashion make over! She’s also been a pillar of strength for her family during the series of tragedies which have impacted on them during the last few years and now feels she can start to make time for herself and her life - preferably involving the Muffin Man. He’s actually Doctor Luke Thomson and he’s come to Shadow Creek to make amends for something in the past which is making him vow not to make any move on Gwen without her knowing about his past enabling her to decide whether to still be involved with him or not.

This is a story of people seeking forgiveness from others but reluctant to forgive themselves. It is an emotive story, dealing with many aspects of grief, including empowering yourself and others to move on to live despite past tragedies. It is a roller coaster ride where you’re not quite sure how everything can be resolved to enable the romance to succeed. There are great secondary characters in the story, too, and it was fantastic to catch up with some of them again. I’m enjoying this series and hope there will be additional books to come - I want to know what has happened to Luke’s sister and read more about Ben, too! Another winner from Victoria James, IMHO, I have no hesitation in recommending this and other books in this series to anyone who enjoys escaping into a very moving romantic read!

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion after choosing to read it.

I knew this one was going to beautifully emotional. I had the tissues handy especially for the last part of the book. Gwen is ready to live life again for herself and she has her sights on Luke. I love the nickname she gave him, the Muffin Man or TMM. My heart just goes out to Luke. He has so much guilt inside him and keeps pushing Gwen away because knows he can't have her, but that doesn't stop him from yearning for her. As Gwen works her magic on Luke, Luke braces himself for inevitable outcome. That is where those tissues come in handy because it's heartbreaking, but therapeutic as well. I really enjoyed this third book in the series. Gwen and Luke had chemistry and tome they fit well together. It was nice to also see the charters from previous books enjoying their HEAs.

After getting The Baby Bombshell from Netgalley and reading it I was hooked on the Shadow Creek gang. I really wanted to see Gwen and her mysterious Muffin Man get a book. So I jumped at the chance to read this when I seen it on Netgalley. Victoria James didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed this sweet, feel good read. I laughed a lot reading this story. Gwen was cute, playful and very funny. Luke was a sexy, brooding Dr with a heartbreaking past. I thought they were very cute together. The chemistry between them was great. I also enjoyed getting to catch up with Lily and Jack. The whole Bailey family are sweet and easy to love. This was a quick low angst read. The only reason it wasn't a 5 star for me was it was too short. I felt I needed more development like maybe an extra 100 pages so I didn't feel like we readers just got the bear bones of a great story. Still a great read that made me feel happy. I loved the end it was very cute. I am hoping Luke's sister Haley gets a book too. I want her to have a HEA.

The Doctor’s Redemption, the third book in Victoria James’ Shadow Creek, Montana Series is the story of Gwen Bailey and her mystery man known as The Muffin Man aka Luke Thomson. This is a standalone read, however, readers of the series will be happy to see past couples.

Five years ago, the Bailey family lost a son and grandson in a tragic car accident. The resulting fallout forced a daughter-in-law/friend and twin son/brother to leave as well. During this time, Gwen Bailey had to pick up the pieces and try to keep what was left of her family together and take care of whatever it was her parents needed. Now that the family is back together, happy, and thriving it's time to focus on her.

Luke Thomson is a man carrying around a lot of pain and guilt. He’s in Shadow Creek to make amends for what he thinks he has done wrong. What he didn’t expect to happen was to have feelings for Gwen. Luke is about to find out that true love, forgiveness, and friendship finds you when you least expect it.

Victoria James is one of my favorite authors and an auto buy for me. I’ve read all of her books so I know what she’s capable of. Sadly, The Doctor’s Redemption wasn’t her best work. That’s not to say that the story wasn’t enjoyable or that I didn't like it. It was enjoyable and I did like it, but it wasn't what I expected from a Victoria James story. Victoria is known for her ability to write heart-wrenching scenes, which draws readers in and leaves them reaching for a box of tissue. That was missing from this story.

The main characters of Gwen and Luke are very likeable. However, I had issues with them. To me, Gwen came across as being too needy. She refused to allow Luke to turn her down when she wanted to spend time with him. There was a reason why he kept making excuses to not be with her. I wasn't fond of the fact that Luke took things too far without coming clean with Gwen about his secret. The secondary characters were all great and helped to pull the story together. They were able to show what was truly important in life and love.

While The Doctor’s Redemption wasn't a huge hit for me, I loved that it eludes to the possibility of a fourth book, which I would definitely love to read.

The Doctor's Redemption by Victoria James is book three of the Shadow Creek Series. Each book has been an emotional intense book with The Doctor's Redemption being no different. It is a story of love but also of one of guilt and forgiveness. It also shows how unforgiveness, such as with Luke’s in-laws, can hurt but that is on them the unforgiver.

I was glad to see Gwen get her own story but I was not expecting it to be Luke. Not that I didn’t like Luke, I did. Luke calls Gwen his redeemer at one point in the book but he is what she needs to it turns out. I will never think of “The Muffin Man” without thinking of Luke.

Not a fast-paced book, but so real life. Don’t people take two steps forward only to take one back many times. Such is the case for Luke and Gwen. It is so much the sweeter for being so. My motions were in an uproar over this one. Tell her, no wait, get better prepared, no just tell her. See what I mean. Still I enjoyed the book.

I can recommend it others especially those who enjoy books by Susan Fox, Lily Everett and Kristin Higgins. Victoria James writes books that pull at your heartstrings just like these others.

I absolutely swooned over this book. It was sweet, fun, and heartfelt. It definitely gave a yank on my heartstrings. This was the first book I have read in this series, but I now feel the need to go back and read the first two. I thought the couple was sweet and perfect for eachother, despite any obstacles along the way. I also thought it was a good storyline that definitely kept me entertained. I will be looking for more from Victoria James.

Gwen is the owner of a chocolate shop, and Luke is a doctor. Both of these characters have suffered from devastating loss. No spoilers though, give this one a chance for yourself!
This is a sweet and emotional storyline, with secrets, guilt, forgiveness, and love. I highly recommend this authors work for all readers, and I look forward to reading more from her.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book!

The Doctor's Redemption, by Victoria James is a captivating contemporary romance, which features humorous, yet realistic characters

Due to a tragic accident, the close-knit Bailey family was torn apart. Now, five years later, the family members have rebuilt their connections and (mostly) moved forward, yet Gwen Bailey is still struggling. While trying to focus on herself, Gwen decides to flirt with her mysterious muffin man customer.

Luke Thomson's new favorite activity is visiting the coffee shop and seeing Gwen, until he discovers that her family is the sole reason he moved to Shadow Creek. Despite Luke's intentions to deny his attraction to Gwen, he simply can't seem to avoid her. Unfortunately, Gwen's numerous insecurities and Luke's dark secrets prompt difficulties for their new relationship.

Since it's the third book in Shadow Creek, Montana series, it's recommended to start with the first book, Christmas with the Sheriff, and then the second book, The Baby Bombshell, to fully meet all the character and understand the overarching situation.

The Doctor's Redemption is geared towards those who enjoy reading modern romances.


Note: I received this book from Entangled Publishing, which provided bloggers with ARC copies to write book reviews in exchange for the books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

“I notice you. I notice everything about you.”

This series from Victoria James is one of the sweetest series I've read, and yet, at times, it can be utterly heartbreaking.

The Doctor’s Redemption is the third (but hopefully not the last) book in the Shadow Creek, Montana series and so far, all of them have made me deeply emotional, including this one. Because this time around, we are seeing Gwen and Luke find each other, both of them living with loss and grief and guilt.

Man, this book got to me. I'll admit that the longevity of Luke’s secret—which is clear from the outset to us, the readers—was a little troublesome to me, since I'm not typically a fan of drawn-out drama when we could be getting to the redemption. However, for the most part, it worked.

And worked well. I really liked Gwen, and completely identified with her twenty pounds excuse, and adored that she was a kindhearted—but strong—heroine. The type of gal you'd like on your friends list. As for Luke… his vacillating on telling the truth was, as I mentioned above, a touch troublesome. That being said, I understood it and I ached for him, and when the time came, I did love the reveal. Most of all, I loved the reactions from all parties—the deepest part of this book for me.

As the third book in this blissful series, The Doctor’s Redemption gave us wonderful glimpses of the previous couples and, I hope, set up for Haley a chance at love. If that does happen, rest assured that I'll be there ready to read and enjoy.

And ready for more of this series’ signature sweetness… and heartbreak.

All he knew was that this woman, somehow, made him feel like the man he wanted to be. She made him feel like there was hope. She made him believe in redemption.

~ FOUR Muffin Man STARS ~

Victoria James sure knows how to tell a story so that all my emotions are involved and I am invested in the outcome of the story. I adore this series, and how all the stories are twined together, how that one tragic day changed the lives of so many people, yet these stories tell how hope, love, and new life can be born from a tragedy.

Gwen Bailey had been there for her family when everything fell apart. She had neglected herself while taking care of others and finally felt it was time for her to get a life, as well. Now it was her turn to be happy, loved, to have a meaningful relationship. She felt sorry for herself, unattractive, and was uncomfortable in her body. Yet her attraction to The Muffin Man gave her inspiration to do something about it, to change things, to pamper and focus on herself. She was ready for a relationship, looking actively for one, and shamelessly pursuit The Muffin Man, whose name she didn't even know. I didn't know if I should have been cheering her on for her boldness to go after what she wanted or appalled of her brazen attempts to get his attention.

Doctor Luke Thomson, also known as The Muffin Man, carried a heavy guilt and pain from the past. A remorse that brought him to Shadow Creek in the first place. He is a good man, with deep emotions, good intentions, caring and kind. He also has no desire to be in a relationship, to get married, or have a family again and he is not afraid to vocalize this to Gwen.

Yet there is this sweet, adorable connection between them. The pull is unavoidable, the attraction is burning hot. The draw they have to each other is stronger than the reasons they should stay apart. Until the secret Luke is holding in, hiding behind of, finally comes to light, a little too late, and has explosive consequences.

There's a lot of gentle, delicious lustfulness in the story that had me smiling and sighing. Luke and Gwen are a great match, they are perfect for each other. They support each other, they share interests and are not afraid to voice an opposite opinion. I wasn't sure at the beginning if Gwen was actually attracted to Luke, or just to the feeling of falling in love, but those feelings are put to test and have to survive the fire.

Love, angst, joy and regrets are all mixed in and churning in the hearts and minds of the protagonists as they are working towards healing, a better, happier tomorrow. Atonement and forgiveness take time, time to mend and accept the past mistakes and casualties, but falling in love can change everything and it can happen in the blink of an eye.
A sweet, appealing, and alluring tale, a part three to the poignant and touching series that has won my heart over completely.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Loved, loved, loved!! Victoria James once again wrote a story that pulls all my emotional strings and grabs me by the heart.

The Bailey's continue to show us what a family should look like and what a little love and kindness can bring to our lives. After a tragic loss of two members of the family they have each had to work through their grief and learn to live and love again. Gwen Bailey was the one trying to take care of everyone. Now that everyone seems to be doing well it's time for Gwen to go after her dreams. One is her chocolate shop - check. The other - get the attention of the regular early morning customer. Dr. Luke Thompson aka TMM or The Muffin Man, comes to the chocolate shop every morning working up the nerve to introduce himself to Gwen. His original goal was to offer an apology but after getting to know Gwen what he wants is so much more but how could he ever ask her for that?

This is one for the must read list. I highly recommend it.

I hate to give this book 3 stars because I LOVED Book 1 and 2 in this series and both were 5 star reads for me. However, this book just fell short for me. I had been looking forward to Gwen's story with her muffin man but it just didn't connect for me the way the previous books did.

I think there were a couple of reasons for this. One was Gwen herself. She spent a lot of the book flip flopping between the desire to change her life and wallowing in self pity about how her life had turned out. She also spent a lot of time thinking she wasn't very attractive and how she wanted love so much and how she'd spent her life putting everyone else first. It ended up feeling like she wanted a relationship more than she wanted a relationship with Luke. Then there was the fact that Luke flat out tells her that he will never get married again and that he doesn't want children both of which are very important to Gwen. I really dislike when books have a woman chase a man who says he doesn't want any of those things thinking he'll change his mind or he doesn't really mean it! Of course in a romance he will change his mind but it isn't realistic and I really dislike that theme. Luke is full of angst and spends most of his time thinking about how much he wants Gwen but can't have her because he doesn't deserve her. The big secret is really obvious and IMO is kept entirely too long. By the time he reveals it the secret it just sort of fell flat. I really enjoy Victoria James and although this book didn't really work for me I am still looking forward to more books in Shadow Creek. I did really enjoy catching up with the characters from the first two books.

Luke carried a guilty so heavy for five long years. One that was not his to carry but one all the same. This is a sweet fast paced romance of second chance love. An emotional rollercoaster for the hero and a push and pull back and forth for the heroine, Gwen. I would say I was surprised of what the ultimate guilt was because truly I went in the opposite direction of that one for sure.

This was a nice fast read by Victoria and I now want to see what happens with Hailey and her true back story.

The Doctor's Redemption by Victoria James is book three in The Shadow Creek Series.

Meet Dr. Luke Thomas. He lost his wife and unborn child in a car accident and his guilt eats him up.
He has reached rock bottom.
And there is Gwen Bailey, chocolate shop owner and keeper for her family. A family that suffered the tragic loss of family members five years ago.
Both have something in common, something that could destroy the relationship and feelings these two are about to build.

The Doctor´s Redemption is a story about fault, forgiveness, love and a well deserved HEA.
This book is an emotional read and I needed lots of tissues. I liked the characters and I liked the writing. I give 4 Stars and thank you Victoria James.

I was looking forward to knowing Gwen's story and while I don't think I liked it was much as the previous ones, I still think it was really sweet and emotional story, but I have to say it, it was way too short compared to the other books!! I don't understand why, I wished it had been longer.

You can't help to like Gwen, she's a really kind soul, always thinking of others first but she's also really sassy and very vulnerable.
Then you have Luke, who is tormented by his secret, He's torn by guilt, he wants to make amends but also doesn't feel like he deserves to be happy. The secret part is dragged a bit too long for my taste, if you've read the previous book or even if you haven't I think you can figure out what it is pretty quickly; but it's not revealed until much later in the story; I think it could have worked if it had been exposed earlier, because even by the time it is revealed it didn't felt like it had a strong enough impact, you're expecting that since it took so long to come into the light the fallout would have been more intense and it wasn't the case; so that also makes me wish the reveal had occurred earlier in the story.
For me Gwen and Luke are a great couple, they complement each other and even if they take some time to be together, I was rooting for them.

While not as emotional as the others, it was still a very moving story and you still have some sweet and romantic moments and I hope we still get at least one more book in the series!

I think this may be my favourite book in the Shadow Creek, Montana series. As always, I loved this story by one of my go-to authors, Victoria James. Over the past three books, I have gotten very attached to the Baileys and all of their friends and family. I settled right into this read with anticipation and a smile on my face.

“This is the year of the new Gwen where I go after what I want, and I get the guy I want. And I want you.”


We first met Gwen Bailey in Christmas with the Sheriff. Five years after losing one of her brothers and nephew in a terrible accident, Gwen has had it rough. When her other brother, Jack, took off for parts unknown, Gwen felt the need to take on the role of caretaker of her remaining family. In The Baby Bombshell, we got to see Gwen begin to take some tentative steps towards starting to live again and now, in The Doctor’s Redemption, we get her story.

“He’s been coming here every morning.”

Jack snapped his finger and pointed at TMM. “Oh. The Muffin Man.”

She was going to kill her brother.”


Luke Thomson, AKA “The Muffin Man” was amazing. After learning about the guilt he had been harbouring for years, I just wanted to wrap him in my arms and give him comfort. His story was so heartbreaking. Despite vowing to stay away from Gwen, a woman he didn’t feel he deserved, Luke couldn’t seem to stay away from her.

I loved the connection that formed between Luke and Gwen. He saw right through all of her insecurities and into the great person that everyone else could see. Both were able to help the other with healing and putting the past behind them.

I felt so anxious for Luke throughout the book and the longer he held on to his secrets, the worse my anxiety got. I silently chanted for Gwen to be able to see her way past the perceived “betrayal of trust” and see Luke for the wonderful man he was so that he could forgive himself. I wasn’t disappointed.

Such a wonderful story! (And hopefully not the last we see of the Baileys and their loved ones)

This is the third book in a series and I have not read any of the previous books. I do plan to go back and read the previous two but I think this read fine as a stand alone.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. The story did seem to get bogged down at some point but it did seem to pick back up. It felt like it took a little longer for the hero and heroine to get together than it should have. It felt a little like it was too much of the whole will they/won't they build up. I really liked the characters - both of them were interesting and complex. They fit together well and I felt that their story felt true to life. The big reveal was so slow to come that, honestly, it felt a bit anticlimactic. I also felt like the results of the big reveal were underwhelming ... kind of like, well, OK. None of the fall out that I would have anticipated. After all the build up, it just seemed to fall flat.

But, overall, I really enjoyed the story. I liked the characters and how they connected. I enjoyed learning about the secondary characters (some of whom I assume were the subjects of the earlier books in the series. I really want to go back and read the first two books which based on the reviews I've seen on Goodreads were fantastic!

Release date: 5/22/17

Sigh...It pains me to have to give this book a 3-star rating. I ADORED book one and two of this series and was SO looking forward to Gwen and her muffin man. Alas, this fell WAY short of my expectations.

First, this one felt a lot shorter than the others. Looking at the previous books they all seem to be around the same length, but like I said this one just felt underdeveloped to me. I felt NO connection between Gwen or Luke. Probably because so much of the book was them lost in their thoughts. Him constantly thinking about how he wants Gwen but can't have her. Shouldn't get involved with her. Doesn't deserve her...yadda, yadda, yadda. Her constantly thinking how she is frumpy. How she puts everyone else first. How she wants love. Obsessing over Luke. I cringed more than once at how she kept throwing herself at this guy. He straight up said he would never marry again and didn't want kids. I was puzzled why she even bothered to pursue him after that.

On top of that, we had a HUGE whopper of s secret that was dragged out WAY too long in my opinion and when it finally comes out it was a bit anti-climatic. Now there were also some sweets moments. I loved catching up with the couples from book one and two. I am curious about Luke's sister. I thought maybe there would be a Haley-Ben hookup, but I think maybe the author will go in another direction for her. I do hope we get to see Ben in his own book at some point. He intrigues me.

4 - "What a tangled web we weave." Stars!

I have been itching to read Gwen Bailey’s story since I started reading the Shadow Creek series. The third book; The Doctor’s Redemption, gave me my wish.

IMAGE.

I adored the first two books from this series, the author managed to turn me into an absolute blubbering mess pretty much from the prologue for each book, and kept me in an emotional spin-dryer with the telling of each of the stories for the couples that books focussed on, right to their ends. And for the most part the second half of The Doctor’s Redemption did the same thing. But, If I am being honest I did find the first half a little slow to get going. I am also not a huge fan of dragging out a lie and then using that as the basis for the story-line (which this was), I am one of those people that would prefer it to come out early on and then have the rest of the book focus on rebuilding trust in the relationship, and for me it was definitely dragged out for far too long.

"You’ve been there for everyone else, it’s time to focus on your life."

I have felt a certain kinship with Gwen since we were initially introduced to her, a lot of her personality traits and the way she dives in to help everyone else out often to her own detriment struck a bit of a chord with me, so it was nice to see her step into the romantic spotlight this time. You can pretty much guess where the story between her and Dr. Luke Thomson aka The Muffin Man is going to go as soon as you are given his thoughts, and the dual POV helped me understand his motivations as to why he played things out the way he did.

"I’m done letting life pass me by without being who I really am or going after what I really want."

This was for the most part a sweet, heartfelt read, I do think the pacing was a little off for this couple though in that as already stated the first half of the book seemed to drag in a repetitive sort of way, the 'I want you / I can’t have you' from Luke got awfully tiresome, especially when you take into account the massive whopper of a revelation he was holding back as well, I did at points feel like screaming 'JUST TELL HER!' at my Kindle, but the author managed to keep me invested because I still really liked Gwen and the rest of her family and friends.

"The other night was the best damn mistake I ever made."

That-said, there were a lot of sweet moments in the story as well, I liked introduction of Luke’s sister Haley as well, and one would hope that there is a story there for the author to tell at some point in the future. Still a pretty easy-going read, it just didn’t pull me in and keep a tight hold on my heart-strings as the preceding books in the series did. I do hope we get to go back to the town and characters of ,i>Shadow Creek though as the author has built a really great community around this series.

ARC generously provided via Netgalley, and it was my pleasure to provide the above honest review.