Widowed nurse Melinda Monroe breaks ties with her former surroundings and moves from Los Angeles to the quiet town of Virgin River in northern California, where she is given her own small house by Mayor Hope McCrea. In response to an advertisement, she takes a job as a midwife and practicing nurse to demanding doctor Doc Mullins, and also develops a relationship with Jack Sheridan, the owner of a local restaurant-bar and a former marine suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.