Title: Falling for the Doctor
Author: Nan Reinhardt
Genre: Contemporary romance (sweet, sensual, small town)
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Book Blurb:
They were in it for the fun, but never expected the storm…
Life for hometown ER physician Dr. Max Lange has always been sweet. He loves his job and is dialed in socially with his family, friends, and community. But lately, something feels like it’s missing. When a visiting doctor pulls him in for a hot kiss and asks him to play along in order to avoid unwanted attention from a hospital administrator, Max knows exactly what he wants and needs—the lovely Dr. Mitchell.
After a tragic error shakes her confidence beyond repair, Dr. Lauren Mitchell has abandoned her career in cardiothoracic surgery and instead works as a lead medical consultant for a top cardiovascular technology company. She enjoys her simple life on the road—hotel rooms, room service, and no emotional entanglements.
When a violent storm throws her into service at St. Mark’s hospital, Max has only a few days to prove to Lauren that they belong together, while she must reevaluate her career…and her life. Will Max’s love be enough to make River’s Edge and Max her home?
Excerpt: The Meet-Cute
“She didn’t pick him because he was gorgeous, even though he definitely was gorgeous. No, that wasn’t the reason. She chose him for the simple fact that he was smiling and had the gentlest gray eyes she’d ever seen, and in that moment, a gentleman, a gentle man, was exactly what she needed.
Lauren Mitchell squirmed uncomfortably on the hard plastic chair in St. Mark’s Hospital cafeteria. Papers, her iPad, and her phone lay spread out between her and hospital administrator, Peter Gresham, who was anything but a gentleman. Tugging the lapels of her sensible gray suit jacket together didn’t seem to stop him from leering at the perfectly respectable V-neck of her white blouse. It was all she could do not to kick him under the table and point to her face to get him to focus on the subject at hand—robotics equipment for the new cardiac surgery wing that St. Mark’s had recently added to the north end of the hospital.
This happened way too often. Because she was small, blonde, and, okay…bosomy, men tended to treat her as if she was present merely for their entertainment. She’d dealt with jerks like Peter Gresham her entire adult life. High-powered men who simply couldn’t fathom that a woman whose figure resembled a smaller version of Dolly Parton’s could possibly have a brain under that blond hair. Never mind that her credentials were right there on the Cardiotronics Technologies brochure she’d placed in front of him two days ago. The facts that she’d graduated summa cum laude from med school and excelled in her cardiothoracic surgery residency at a renowned heart hospital in Indianapolis, that she was published in several major medical journals, and that she’d helped to invent the robotic technology that Cardiotronics was installing in his hospital—none of this seemed to impress Peter Gresham.
However, her boobs had certainly grabbed his attention, and once again, Lauren reminded herself that the genes that had given her both curves and brains were a gift, not a curse. That kind of attention was a hill she’d been climbing since she started developing at age thirteen and her Gramma Alicia, her mother’s mother, had taken her by the shoulders to keep her from slouching. “You stand tall, you hear me, child?” Gramma had said, pulling Lauren’s shoulder blades together and making her already-round, high breasts thrust forward. “Be proud of being a woman. Don’t hide your beauty. It will open doors when that amazing brain of yours won’t.”
“What about dinner, Lauren? The Cotton Mill Inn has a great restaurant. Since you’re staying there, why not meet me tonight?” Peter’s beseeching tone, which he probably thought was sexy, was only annoying.
Lauren still hated the fact that her grandmother was right too often, even in today’s more politically correct world. Men were men, and it didn’t seem to matter whether they were “woke” or enlightened or whatever the current terminology was; way too many still turned into eighth graders on the bus when faced with a pretty girl who had both brains and boobs. But Peter was a man she couldn’t afford to insult. He was the one writing the checks to Cardiotronics. A deep breath later, she chose another way.
Gazing over his shoulder, Lauren tried to be unobtrusive about sizing up the tall, handsome man dressed in navy scrubs standing in the entryway. Immediately, she noticed the stethoscope and hospital ID lanyard hanging around his neck as well as his ringless left hand—that didn’t really mean anything, but she was prepared to take the risk. His scrub shirt, loose around the middle to accommodate his broad shoulders, was tucked into even looser matching drawstring pants. He talked animatedly to another man, who also wore the dark blue scrubs of the emergency department.
This gentle giant was her guy, and when the smarmy man sitting across the table from her slid his foot against her calf for the third time in less than ten minutes, her decision was made. She shoved her chair away from the table and rose. “Oh, there you are, babe!” She met him—Dr. Maxim Lange, according to the badge on his lanyard—as he started into the cafeteria. “You’re late. Did you get held up in the ER?” She threw her arms around his neck on the question, whispering in his ear as she pressed a kiss to his dark-bearded cheek. “Please, play along. Kiss me.”
The good doctor bent down and tightened his grip with hands so large they nearly spanned her waist, tugging her closer. “Sure,” he whispered, then in a louder tone. “Sorry, we had a kid come in who’d been hit by a car up on the highway.” With that, he tipped his head and took her lips in a kiss so unexpected and so intimate that Lauren’s knees nearly buckled. His beard tickled the sensitive skin between her lips and her nose, which inanely, she remembered from Anatomy 101 was called the philtrum. Hers was tingling.
When he lifted his mouth, his lips curved up into a bemused and curious smile, and he touched his forehead to hers. “What’s up?”
“I’ve just missed you.” Aware of the many pairs of eyes on them and grateful he was receiving her cues with such aplomb, she slid her hands down his muscled arms before lacing the fingers of one hand with his. “I’ll bet you’re hungry; I’ve already got my lunch.” She jerked her head toward the table where Peter had twisted around his chair to stare at them. “I’m over there with Dr. Gresham. Why don’t you”—she peered around at his companion, suddenly cringing at the thought that she may have totally blown this whole charade because she had no idea whether Dr. Maxim Lange was straight or gay or what exactly—“both join us.”
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Author Biography:
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copy editor and proofreader, however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled woman in her prime. Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 48 years, where they split their time between a house in the city and a cottage on a lake.
Social Media Links:
Talk to Nan at: nan@nanreinhardt.com
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