Virgin River is about a woman named Melinda Monroe, or Mel, and is played by Alexandra Breckenridge. You may know Breckenridge from other popular shows, including This Is Us and American Horror Story . In the show, Mel is a new transplant in Virgin River , a fictional tiny town in northern California. Her backstory is vague (at first), but there are many hints throughout the first season that there are some awful things in her past, and she has suffered through much trauma. In true Netflix form, there are plenty of nail-biting moments, from the cliffhanger we leave Mel and Jack’s (Martin Henderson) relationship on and Paige’s (Lexa Doig) sticky stalker situation with her abusive ex-husband. Even romance goddess Danielle Steel became an instant fan!