Never Date a Doctor
by Melanie A. Smith
Publication date: February 25th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
From best-selling author Melanie A. Smith comes the first book in a new series of steamy contemporary medical romance standalone novels about life lessons that break all the rules.
What’s the first rule of nurse’s club? That’s right: Never date a doctor. Which Sasha Suvorin has no intention of doing anyway, since she’s a nurse at Rutherford Hospital by day and working on her master’s degree by night. Who has time for dating, much less dating someone you work with? Bad idea much?
That is, until the sexy British Dr. Caleb Thompson starts at her hospital. It also doesn’t help that he’s exactly her type with his dark hair, blue eyes, and rockin’ bod. Or that he’s not your typical arrogant and bossy surgeon. But Sasha isn’t so easily convinced, and she soon discovers Dr. Hottie has a past that puts a stop to whatever she might have been feeling before anything ever starts between them.
Unfortunately, working together means facing temptation. Every. Single. Day. Is Sasha strong enough to resist what might just be the perfect man? And if she gives in, will Cal’s past stay in the past? Sasha may be used to playing it safe, but life has a way of teaching its lessons … one way or another.
Purchase:
Amazon
Review:
I haven’t read a lot of medical romance–and what I have read has been a bit hit or miss for me–but I am definitely glad that I gave Never Date a Doctor a chance! I really liked both Sasha and Cal–their chemistry was something else, and yikes, they were so darn cute together to boot. (When she’s sick and he takes care of her? I think one of my ovaries might have spontaneously combusted.) They (mostly ;)) handled the dating-while-working thing well, and I loved that he was so supportive of her career goals…even if that support didn’t stop him from occasionally distracting her from her studies. Or maybe because that support didn’t stop him from occasionally distracting her from her studies? 😉
The villain here is a bit heavy-handed (and yikes, it’s scary to think that a person like that might be nursing your loved ones back to health…) but honestly, Cal and Sasha were so good together, it’s clear that Ms Smith thought they needed outside help in getting them to a relationship crisis…which the antagonist did provide nicely. I also appreciated that Sasha was able to mend the relationships that were strained by the events of the story (some her fault, others decidedly not) fairly realistically and without too much fuss and drama.
And did I mention how good Cal and Sasha were together? Yes? 😉
(One nitpicky detail, though–more than once Sasha mentions that their patients in the cardiac unit are mostly elderly people, which isn’t necessarily the case. My father’s first heart attack occurred when he was 29 (smoker + family history = you’re going to have heart problems), and he had multiple open heart surgeries while in his 30s, 40s, and 50s–and he definitely wasn’t the only patient his age in the unit any of those times. And that was starting in the early 70s; I have to assume things haven’t gotten better in the meantime, given that collectively American diets are getting worse, etc. But at least medicine has gotten better, so there’s that.)
Still–this was my first book from Melanie A. Smith, and it probably won’t be my last! I can’t help but notice that Sasha has single coworkers…hint, hint…
Rating: 4 stars / B+
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book
About the author:
Melanie A. Smith is the best-selling author of The Safeguarded Heart Series and other contemporary romance fiction. Originally from upstate New York, she spent most of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Los Angeles for college. After that, she spent almost fifteen years in the Seattle Area, and now lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas with her family.
A voracious reader and lifelong writer, Melanie’s writing began at a young age with short stories and poetry. Having completed a bachelor of science in electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s in business administration at the University of Washington, her writing abilities were mainly utilized for technical documents as a lead engineer for the Boeing Company, where she worked for ten years.
After shifting careers to domestic engineering and property management in 2015, she eventually found a balance where she was able to return to writing fiction.
Melanie is also a Mensan and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and driving with the windows down and the stereo cranked up loud.
Author links:
You must read The Safeguarded Heart Book Series. I loved it!
Sounds really good