The key storylines of Virgin River season 6 differ greatly from those of the books that inspired the Netflix romantic drama. The series of romance novels on which the Netflix show is based is written by Robyn Carr and it includes 21 books that are all set in the titular town of Virgin River. While the Netflix show focuses on separate storylines simultaneously, Carr’s books work differently, and Mel and Jack’s story was at the center of only the first book, Virgin River. Mel and Jack indeed appear in other books in the series, but they aren’t the main focus.

The different pacing between the books and the Netflix show inevitably made some characters appear for a longer time, shifting their storylines consistently. This was the case for many storylines that are part of Virgin River season 6, especially so Mel and Jack’s, whose story continues to be told in the books but their wedding isn’t shown as their book ends before then. The storylines of some characters, like Brie, Brady, Mike and Charmaine, shift more than those of others, but Virgin River season 6 ends up giving them more depth at last because it spends more time on them.

7Sam Sheridan Has Issues Accepting Jack’s Service In Virgin River Season 6

Sam Instead Accepted & Appreciated Jack’s Sacrifice In The Book

The difference of opinions between Jack’s parents over Jack’s choice to join the Marines has been a burdensome weight in Virgin River. Mel and Jack’s marriage bringing the Sheridans to Virgin River was the perfect occasion for discussing it, and Sam offering Jack to pay for his wedding tuxedo in Virgin River season 6, episode 5 made a talk about Jack’s service possible. Throughout Virgin River, Jack was always proud of it, despite the problems it caused him after returning home. However, Jack’s parents didn’t take his choice well, and Sam’s speech highlighted how he saw Jack’s life as off-track.

[Sam talking about Jack’s choice not to continue his education to serve in the Marines showed how] he didn’t see Jack as a “highly decorated hero” like in the books.

Sam is instead prouder of Jack’s path in the book of the same name. While talking to Mel in Virgin River, Sam admits that Jack had accomplished more, saved more lives and done more good than others with education, although choosing to serve stopped him from continuing school. Not going to college was a sore spot in Virgin River season 6 too, but how Sam talked about Jack’s sacrifice showed how he didn’t necessarily see Jack as a “highly decorated hero” like in the books, instead seeing Jack’s choice to join the Marines as an disrupting bump in the road.

6Sarah & Everett Were Never A Part Of The Robyn Carr Books

The Focus On Their Past Is An Attempt To Expand The Virgin River Universe

Virgin River focused a lot on Mel’s difficulty moving on after Mark’s death, but her mother’s death also had a massive impact on Mel in the Netflix romantic drama. Everett appearing and being revealed as Mel’s biological father in Virgin River season 5 only made Mel’s feelings about not remembering her mother Sarah before her illness stronger, centering their getting to know one another on their love for Sarah and who she was when Everett met her. This made flashbacks about the younger versions of Everett and Sarah possible, also paving the way for the Virgin River prequel spinoff.

Everett’s appearance in season 5 and Mel getting to know him in Virgin River season 6 partly moved the focus from Mel and Jack to Everett and Sarah, making Mel’s parentage more important in the Netflix TV show, while it had never been that much in the books. Carr’s Virgin River never focuses on Mel’s parents, but it was important for the Netflix series to do so, as learning about Sarah’s life let Mel feel much more connected to her mother, to the point that her deeper knowledge briefly drove a wedge between Mel and Joey during the bachelorette party.

5Virgin River Season 6 Expanded Mel & Jack’s Key Story Beyond Their Book

The Book Focusing On Mel & Jack Ends With Mel’s Pregnancy

A key characteristic of the Virgin River books is how the protagonists of each are different. Indeed, if Virgin River has Mel and Jack’s story at its center, the second book, Shelter Mountain, focuses on Preacher and Paige and so on. While Mel and Jack continue to appear in multiple books after theirs, Mel and Jack aren’t the focus of the story in the Virgin River books after the first one. While each Virgin River season puts the spotlight on different couples, Mel and Jack are still at the story’s center, especially with their wedding in Virgin River season 6.

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This made Virgin River season 6’s focus on Mel and Jack continue to share a lot about the two characters, chiefly about Jack’s time when he chose to enlist and his first marriage. All of this is already available in the first Virgin River book, which ends after the attack against Mel at the clinic as she is pregnant with her and Jack’s first child. Instead, Virgin River season 6 didn’t let Mel and Jack get pregnant again, but it deepened the understanding audiences have of Mel and Jack’s past, shifting their storyline’s timeline.

4Mel & Jack Get Married Well After The End Of Paige’s Story In Virgin River Season 6

Paige & Preacher’s Story Hasn’t Even Started When Mel & Jack Are Engaged In The Books

Shelter Mountain, Carr’s second book in the Virgin River series, focuses on Paige and Preacher’s romance, which in the Netflix series didn’t have a chance to really blossom, as Paige had to continue being on the run for four seasons. This completely changed Preacher’s storyline and it shifted how his storylines related to major ones in the Virgin River TV show. Indeed, with Paige leaving town in season 5’s premiere and the spotlight being on Mel and Jack’s wedding in Virgin River season 6, Paige and Preacher’s storyline effectively ended well before Jack and Mel’s wedding.

Always deemed one of the best Virgin River romances, Preacher and Paige’s story suffered from the shifted timeline.

While Preacher found love with Kaia in Virgin River, his and Paige’s story couldn’t be the iconic one it was in the books, as it was focused on protecting Christopher and letting Paige remain safe on the run from Wes and Vince. Paige and Preacher meeting in Shelter Mountain when Mel and Jack already have their firstborn effectively changes the couples’ entire dynamics, as Paige and Preacher’s story already ended by the time Mel and Jack married one another in the show.

3Virgin River Season 6 Has Preacher On Trial When This Never Happened In The Books

Wes Isn’t Dead In Shelter Mountain But In Jail For What He Did To Paige

One major storyline impacting Preacher in Virgin River season 6 was his trial. Although it thankfully ended in Preacher’s favor by Virgin River season 6, episode 3, the discovery of Wes’s body in season 5 during the firefighters’ cleanup of Virgin River after the wildfires incriminated Preacher, as he disposed of his body to protect Paige in Virgin River season 2. This brought the trial in Preacher, Jack and Brie’s lives, something they had to grapple with for what it could mean if it didn’t end well. However, Preacher is never on trial in the books as Wes doesn’t die.

Shelter Mountain’s ending involves a confrontation between Jack’s Marines unit, including Preacher, and Wes, after Wes kidnapped Paige. While in the commotion someone hits Wes and he falls, Wes never dies, only earning a bump on his head. The multiple witnesses and his capture ensure some accountability for what Wes had done to Paige, with the disgraced policeman ending up in prison, along with Paige and Christopher finally free of him. With Virgin River going in another direction for Wes’s story and his body being found, Preacher necessarily had to be on trial, greatly changing his storyline as a result.

2Brie & Brady Hooked Up Again In Virgin River Season 6

Brie & Brady Were Never A Couple In Whispering Rock

Brie learning the truth behind Lark and Jimmy’s relationship reignited her connection with Brady in Virgin River season 6, prompting the emotional exchange when Brie deemed Brady “worthy of love” and the two hooking up again. Their reconnection seemed unavoidable after Brie learned the truth about his undercover operation with Mike to stop Melissa’s criminal empire and protect Brie from her, but that didn’t change how Brie was still dating Mike. However, this never happens in Whispering Rock, as Brady doesn’t officially appear until the fifth Virgin River book, and he is never romantically linked with Brie.

If Brie connected with Brady first after moving to Virgin River in Virgin River season 3, she only does so with Mike in Whispering Rock, after a criminal attacks her.

The third Virgin River book Whispering Rock focuses on Brie and Mike’s romance, only having the two be romantically linked, and shifting the timeline of Brie’s story as well. If Brie connected with Brady first after moving to Virgin River in Virgin River season 3, she only does so with Mike in Whispering Rock, after a criminal attacks her and Mike helps her stay strong during the court case against the criminal where Brie has to testify. The different timeline thus makes Brie, Brady and Mike’s connections a love triangle in the show that never existed in the books.

1Charmaine’s Twins & Issues With Calvin Aren’t Present In The Books

Charmaine Isn’t Pregnant But Her Baby Story Mirrors That Of Another Book Character

Although Charmaine exists as a character in the Virgin River books, she has an influence nowhere near as impactful as she does in the Netflix series. Charmaine’s centrality in Virgin River’s six seasons highlighted the show’s timeline’s real length as she was pregnant for most of it, making it impossible for Virgin River seasons 1 to 5 to go on for more than a year. However, Charmaine wasn’t pregnant in the Virgin River books, and consequently her custody battle with Calvin never happened in the book series.

While Charmaine herself was never pregnant in the books, a theory (via Reddit) suggests Charmaine and Jack’s pregnancy story was actually blended with the fifth Virgin River book story focusing on Paul. Paul is in love with Vanni, a widow of a Marine in his unit, but is briefly pushed to believe he got Terri pregnant after their one night stand because Terri wants a family and she considers him a good man with whom to build one. Terri’s subterfuge is eventually discovered, just like Charmaine’s in Virgin River, but season 6 still changes Charmaine’s book story greatly.

Virgin River season 6 is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.