Virgin River is among the best original series on Netflix because it has it all: drama, romance, some action, a bit of mystery, and a lot of wholesomeness and comforting vibes. With a show like Virgin River, it’s hard to pick anything else for cozy viewing and enjoyment; Netflix also understands this, which is why they’ve decided to extend the show for Season 7, just ahead of its Season 6 premiere.

Since it’s a romance show, Virgin River has some great couples and new relationships brewing at all times, and fans can pick their favorites and cheer them on throughout while watching. Despite nurse Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and bar owner Jack (Martin Henderson) being the main couple, they’re not the entire reason for the show’s popularity; Virgin River owes a lot to its great side characters, sweet romances, and new love interests. But, which Virgin River couple gives off “couple goals” vibes the most?

10. Brady and Lark

Played by Benjamin Hollingsworth and Elise Gatien

Image via Netflix

Brady (Benjamin Hollingsworth) and Lark (Elise Gatien) meet in Season 5 after Brady ends up single once again. Brady’s choices during his relationship with Brie (Zibby Allen) make her stop trusting him, so he ends up living in an airstream near his workplace. This is where he takes in Lark and her daughter Hazel, who were living on the outskirts with the marijuana-growing community, but whose home completely burned down in Season 5’s wildfires. Brady and Lark bond over their outcast statuses and initially seem to be right for each other.

However, when one episode reveals Hazel is Jimmy’s (Ian Tracey) daughter and Lark his girlfriend, her purpose of bonding with Brady gets a different perspective; Jimmy is drug kingpin Calvin’s right-hand man and feels that Brady needs to be tricked out of his money because he put him in jail. Brady is flawed, but his intentions are always pure, and he proves time and time again that he’s honorable and would do anything for those he loves. While he and Lark do feel attracted to each other, and she regrets her decisions, Brady doesn’t deserve what she does to him. Their relationship ends in Season 6, when Lark actually takes off with Brady’s money.

9. Jo Ellen and Nick

Played by Gwynyth Walsh and Keith MacKechnie

Image via Netflix

Jo Ellen (Gwynyth Walsh) is one of the ladies from the Sewing Circle, and she and her husband Nick (Keith MacKechnie) own the B&B where Mel initially checks into in Season 1. While Jo Ellen and Nick don’t have a lot of screen time, they show they’re a pretty great couple in all their appearances together. They seem to still have a spark, as Jo Ellen admits in Season 6, and they often go out on dinner dates (even with others, like Mel and Jack, in Virgin River‘s Season 4 finale).

It would be nice to see a little more from these two, since they’re one of two older couples in the show. Though there are lots of older side characters, only a couple are actually shown as romantically linked and having a good time together. It’s not likely that Season 7 will feature them a lot more, but seeing their dynamic a bit more would surely make them even more likable in upcoming episodes.

8. Brie Sheridan and Mike Valenzuela

Played by Zibby Allen and Marco Grazzini

Image via Netflix

It seems Detective Mike (Marco Grazzini), Jack and Brady’s Navy squadmate, has always had a thing for Brie, Jack’s sister. The way he always looks at her and defends her shows he’s had feelings for a while. When Brie broke up with Brady over his lying, she kissed Mike, who got wounded in an action against Calvin in which Brady also participated. However, they bonded a little before that, in Season 5, when Brie went to testify against her ex who sexually assaulted her; Mike was accidentally at the courthouse and stuck next to Brie the entire time.

While they’re a wonderful couple and Mike looks completely smitten, it seems Brie isn’t into him in the same way. She understands someone like him can provide stability and understanding, but seems to have plenty of unresolved feelings towards Brady. It also looks like she may be settling for Mike because he didn’t disappoint her the same way Brady did. Mike deserves someone just as smitten with him as he is with Brie; instead, he proposes to her even after she admits she and Brady are not completely done. He says he knows, and Season 6 concludes with this. As great as they might be, it doesn’t seem like their relationship will (or should) last.

7. Everett Reid and Sarah Monroe

Played by Callum Kerr and Jessica Rothe

Image via Netflix

Everett Reid (John Allen Nelson) is revealed to be Mel’s biological father at the end of Season 5; as Mel takes her time to get to know him more across Season 6, she also gets snippets of his life with her mother, Sarah, including how they met and what Everett did after she died. These flashbacks opened the opportunity for the showrunners to start rumors of a prequel about Everett and Sarah, who are played in the flashbacks by Callum Kerr and Jessica Rothe.

The two met sometime in the 1970s, when Everett was driving to San Francisco for a Rolling Stones concert, and Sarah was hitchhiking there to join the anti-war protest. The two bond on their trip to San Francisco, but their car breaks down in Virgin River, of all places, and they spend a night together. Everett and Sarah later met a couple of times, when she also admitted to being pregnant with Mel. They seemed to have been madly in love, and their romance was depicted as having met The One. Since their love was so strong, it’ll be nice to have a prequel about them and the rest of the Virgin River community.

6. Muriel St. Claire and Cameron Hayek

Played by Teryl Rothery and Mark Ghanimé

Image via Netflix

Muriel (Teryl Rothery) is among the most likable Virgin River characters, and many fans want to see her happy and thriving. Though her breast cancer diagnosis in Season 6 was disappointing character development in some ways, Muriel is shown to have great friends who wish to stand by her no matter what. The time Muriel was given some happiness and excitement was when she and Doctor Cameron Hayek (Mark Ghanimé) struck up a workplace romance after she joined Doc’s clinic as an assistant.

Cameron is much younger than Muriel, but the two have great chemistry together. Cameron seems sweet and caring, and Muriel is intelligent, loving, and has a taste for the arts. The two enjoy each other’s company and give off some nice couple goal vibes until Muriel decides to call it quits with Cameron because he might want to have kids someday and she can’t provide that. Though their whirlwind romance was sadly cut too short, both Muriel and Cameron’s emotional maturity and affection for each other allowed them to stay good friends.

5. Lizzie Hill and Denny Cutler

Played by Sarah Dugdale and Kai Bradbury

Image via Netflix

Despite Lizzie (Sarah Dugdale) and Denny (Kai Bradbury) being a relatively new couple in the Virgin River timeline, they’re already one of the more wholesome couples who are growing together as much as they are separately. Lizzie shows up in Virgin River in Season 2, and dates Lydie’s grandson Ricky at first; she seems spoiled and selfish, and like she only wants to defy her parents. She is rebellious with Ricky, but after he decides to be a Marine, she meets Denny, Doc’s grandson, who shows up to bond with Doc as one of his only family members left.

Lizzie and Denny start off slowly, since Denny is reserved about being with her because of his sickness. However, Lizzie grows in the meantime, realizes what her true calling in life is, and becomes a lot more mature and open to growing with Denny despite his condition; she convinces him that love shouldn’t be delayed while he’s still alive. The two meet in the middle and try to communicate; though they fight and bicker, these little things always lead them to a peaceful and loving resolution, making them quickly become one of the show’s best couples.

4. Brie Sheridan and Dan Brady

Played by Zibby Allen and Benjamin Hollingsworth

Image via Netflix

Even if Brie and Brady are no longer together, their romance is inevitable. It seems like these two are the real deal, and utterly meant for each other, because Brady woke up a cheerful and brighter side in Brie, while Brie believed in his goodness when nobody else did. When they met, Brady was fast approaching a way of living a closed-off life and becoming emotionally locked away. Fortunately, Brie managed to make him leave that shell and not put his guard up as much; the two have intense chemistry and attraction.

When Brie left Brady after she realized he lied to her about his involvement with Calvin and Mike, Brady didn’t go back to being his old self; he continued to do good because of her help. Though the two secretly rekindled their romance in Season 6, it was obvious even before then that whatever’s between them wouldn’t be turned off so easily. With Brady and Brie confessing their still intense love for one another in one of the best Virgin River episodes, fans will just have to see if she’ll decide to marry Mike or go back to Brady, who she has more chemistry with.

3. John ‘Preacher’ Middleton and Kaia Bryant

Played by Colin Lawrence and Kandyse McClure

Image via Netflix

The fan favorite character, Preacher (Colin Lawrence) deserved a great romance for his storyline, and it’s a shame that the showrunners put him through so much before he met Kaia. While Preacher had an unspoken bond with Paige, his involvement in her killing her ex, Wes, led him to be put on trial in Virgin River Season 6. Paige’s presence (and absence) seemed to bother Preacher and block his way to happiness, but then fire captain Kaia (Kandyse McClure) showed up and turned Preacher’s life upside down.

Preacher and Kaia are beautiful together; they’re both physically and mentally strong, and supportive and motivating towards each other. Kaia stands by Preacher no matter what, and he lets her be happy and herself, even if it means she might go without him. Seeing Preacher happy was on the wishlist of numerous fans, and it’s good that Kaia’s appearance wasn’t just so Preacher could have any partner – she’s written as his equal, and is a great addition to the Virgin River lore.

2. Vernon ‘Doc’ Mullins and Hope McCrea

Played by Tim Matheson and Annette O’Toole

Image via Netflix

Vernon “Doc” Mullins (Tim Matheson) and Mayor Hope McCrea (Annette O’Toole) are depicted as separated in the first season of Virgin River, and, though they’re still friends, Hope seems to be unable to forgive Doc about his infidelity one time twenty years ago. Then, fans are introduced to slow but loving communication between them which leads these two incredibly stubborn people to a resolution. Doc and Hope are obviously two peas in a pod, people who have known each other for so long and inside-out; they usually know what will work for the other when it’s time to negotiate or come to an agreement.

Hope and Doc are also the only other older couple on Virgin River, and, despite the presence of so many other older characters, they and Jo Ellen and Nick are the only ones shown in a couple, and even as being intimate and loving towards each other. The physical affection between Hope and Doc is also refreshing, as Virgin River portrays the romance between characters of all ages, and seeing them as more than a cold older couple is what makes their romance amazing and noteworthy.

1. Melinda ‘Mel’ Monroe and Jack Sheridan

Played by Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson

OK, so Mel and Jack definitely aren’t the only couple on Virgin River, but they are the best for a reason. They’re shown as friends at first, though it’s obvious there’s chemistry and attraction between them from day one. Jack’s relationship with Charmaine (Lauren Hammersley) is in the way, but so is Mel’s grief. As a woman who lost everything and chose to leave her old life behind, her struggle to let go and make peace with what happened can be relatable to many viewers. Similarly, Jack’s struggle to be vulnerable combined with post-war PTSD and possible alcoholism makes him initially a tough cookie to crack.

When Jack and Mel finally become a couple, they still have the same issues as when they first met; however, their growth from Season 1 until Season 6 shows progress in the name of love. Mel isn’t afraid of being with Jack because of her past ghosts – she marries him in spite of them. Jack quits drinking, goes to therapy for his PTSD, and becomes more open to all possibilities of life with Mel. Their relationship may feel unrealistic at certain points, but the love they keep for each other is very much rooted in real life (as many people who’ve experienced this can confirm).