Just One Night
Karen TroxelContemporary romance
Available from Amber Quill Press
ISBN: 1-59279-184-0
April 2005
| Dr. Honey Calabrese comes to the small town of Garden, Virginia on a one year contract as town doctor under the Rural Doctor Program. If she didn't practice medicine for one year in Garden, she couldn't practice anywhere in the United States for the next 5 years. Garden was a town of just over 1000 in population. It was quite a change from New York City where Dr. Calabrese had lived before. Roarke Sullivan was the mayor, primary employer and largest land owner in Garden. He was also very prejudiced against a woman doctor. He had a young son, R.J., who was quite the charmer. His wife Marguerite had died in childbirth. As part of her job, Dr. Calabrese got a house rent-free. Roarke and R.J. took her to her house and Honey saw she would be living in her dream house. She had left her grandmother in New York. Her grandparents had raised her after her parents died in a car accident when she was a toddler. Honey was planning to visit her grandmother the coming weekend and realized she needed to try and talk her grandmother into living with her so they could save on expenses and Honey could make a bigger dent in the overwhelming medical bills Honey had inherited when her grandfather died and there was no insurance.
When Roarke and Honey first met, Roarke thought Honey was a city girl and goldigger. His wife had been a snob who didn't want to live in Garden. He figured Honey had the same mindset. Honey was replacing Dr. McNair, who had lasted less than a year and had only cared about his golf game. Honey was working 10-12 hours a day and everyone in town was on her side except Roarke. He seemed to always be angry with Honey over something. Honey was very attracted to Roarke and couldn't understand how that was possible since he didn't like her very much. There are several supporting characters who overlap Honey and Roarke's story who were beautifully written. They include R.J., Roarke's young son, Thelma, Honey's grandmother, Polly, Roarke's mother, Adele, a nurse who worked with Honey, Missy, a part-time office assistant who worked with Honey and Adele, Bob, the town veterinarian, Judd, Honey's first patient, Maggie, who was expecting her 6th child, and Jason, who helped around the house and barn at Honey's place. All of these characters were also conspiring to get Honey and Roarke together as the story developed. This story shows the generosity of hometown life and also how everyone knows everything about everybody there. This is a very sweet romantic story. I recommend it to everyone.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Ellen |
