We first fell in love with Melinda “Mel” Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge)

when the caring nurse practitioner came to Virgin River to escape her painful past,

and unexpectedly she found romance and a new sense of community.

We have been rooting for Mel ever since, and can’t wait to curl up on the couch to watch Season 4 unfold on Wednesday, July 20, on Netflix. We left off in Season 3 with Mel discovering she was pregnant and unsure if the biological father is Jack (Martin Henderson) or Mel’s late husband, Mark (Daniel Gillies) as a result of a cycle of IVF when she and Jack had broken up.

Now filming Season 5 of the cozy, woodsy drama, Breckenridge is enjoying the beauty of Vancouver and the activity on the picturesque waterways, being reunited with her pal Henderson and other co-stars and adding to Mel’s storylines.

Otherwise best known for her role as Kevin’s girlfriend and wife, Sophie, on This is Us, Breckenridge is the mother of two young children. She is also known for guest-starring roles in Charmed, Dawson’s Creek, and Medium, as well as recurring roles on True Blood, American Horror Story and AMC’s The Walking Dead—plus voice work on Family Guy. Virgin River is based on the 21 best-selling romance novels by Robyn Carr, and while the series follows the characters and storylines, there have been many twists, turns and bumps along the way.

Breckenridge says that as we start Season 4, Mel has grown and evolved a great deal throughout the first three seasons.

“I think that coming from such a broken place to finally let love back in and now coming to a place where it’s kind of euphoric for Mel right now,” Breckenridge exclusively tells Parade.com. “She’s in love with this man she never thought would happen again and she’s pregnant with a child she never thought she could have. Really, it’s like 180 degrees since the first season.”

Alexandra Breckenridge: I’m excited to explore more of Mel’s backstory this year. From what I’ve seen so far, we get to dive a little bit more into understanding where she’s coming from as a person and a character and more of what makes her tick from her childhood, which I always find fascinating. What had originally drawn me into doing This Is Us because that’s really what that show is sort of all about.

Have you thought at all about what kind of mother Mel will be? Is it similar to your own mothering?
I think that Mel is an extremely patient person. I think that her patience as far as mothering goes will be phenomenal. I’ve worked on my patience. I’ve gotten much more patient as I have been a mother. I think that’s innate in Mel, it just comes to her, she is that way. That’s the difference between us