Being a female doctor is tough. It's a hard world to break into and then there are all of the hours you have to work. That doesn't really make it conducive to having a relationship. Even if you're dating another doctor. Especially if you walk in the door and find said other doctor screwing a resident on your couch. Even more disheartening is realizing that the past few years of your life have been directed by your ex.
Dr. Nora Walsh is dealing with ALL of that. She sees a notice that there is an opening for a small town doctor in Paradise Cove and she decides to take the position but her plan is just to stay for two years, pay off her student debt and save for a house that she can share with her sister. She's not looking for a forever home or a forever love.
For his part, Jake Ramsey is barely even looking for someone to grunt in the general of. He lost his infant son to the flu and his marriage imploded soon after. He barely even wants to talk to the friends he's had since childhood. His life is all about helping out around town and that's what leads him to be one of the first people to meet Nora. They share a pretty intense experience and then... start hanging out. Nora gives him sympathy but not too much and not too little. She's the Baby Bear of sympathy.
From the beginning, I was really hoping that a particular plot line wouldn't pop up. But it did. While Holiday is an entertaining writer and I am very much looking forward to Maya and Law's story, the end of this book was just a little to fraught to feel like there was a concrete resolution.
This book comes out July 28th
ARC kindly provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley
Opinions are my own
A good story but I did feel lost for a lot of it. And Max doesn't even feature much in this book even though the series is Kelling and Bittersohn. He shows up halfway through and then is absent, apparently investigating, for quite a bit at the end.
The book opens with Charli Goodwin barely pulling into town on her motorcycle when she encounters a couple whose car has broken down. She's tired, dirty, but not anxious to be home so she stops to help, using almost the last of her magic. It's a nice introduction to the series.
An old foe rises from the shadows when Marsia Gay decides that she wants revenge on Savich for putting her in jail. She has an intricate plan that includes sending puzzle pieces to him at the FBI. One of the agents in another unit recognizes the puzzle pieces as a small town she used to live in and is immediately borrowed and sent to the town.
Frances may have just gotten engaged but she doesn't want to announce it until her sister's wedding has occurred. But her sister, Lily, and Lily's fiance have news that puts the wedding in jeopardy. Frances's fiance (unknown to anyone but herself) steps in and offers his brother's country house. Having it at the estate means that the wedding can now be a full-on house party. Something that should satisfy even Lily and Frances's social-climbing mother.
For regular Haines readers, I don't think you will be disappointed. The main mystery was really intriguing but fell apart a bit at the end when an old enemy (rather awkwardly added to the story) shows up again. Characters' story arcs are moved along and the writing is just as good as always.
I can't remember where I heard about this book but it looked interesting. And it sort of was. It's a microhistory about arsenic and how forensic science was formed to determine whether someone had been poisoned. The whole story is framed around the poisonings of the Bodle family.
