Dr. Carlisle's Child

by Carol Marinelli

There were reasons why Dr. Seb Carlisle really shouldn't get involved with Dr. Lucinda Chambers. They worked together in the busy children's clinic at Melbourne Central Hospital... and, on top of his demanding job, Seb was a single father to a five-year-old! But a weekend alone in Queensland was more temptation than they could handle. The inevitable happened... with unexpected consequences. Six weeks later, Lucinda began to suspect Seb was going to be a father again. Now she just had to find a way to tell him!

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Harlequin Presents

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Carol Marinelli was born in England to Scottish parents, then emigrated to Australia, where there are loads of Scottish and English people who did exactly the same, so she’s very at home there.

She lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne—pretty much in her car, driving her three children to their various commitments.

Carol writes for the Harlequin Presents and Medical lines and she also writes contemporary women's fiction (with a dark twist).
When she's not writing she's reading, when she's not reading she's writing.

Reviews

[Kace | The Booknerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty decent read with likable characters and fair amount of steam, perfect for a lazy afternoon.

[NM · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a *medical* romance-type story, this was well-written with a lot of great characters and intriguing storylines.

As an *HP romance* novel, this needed a vast additional dosage (ha) of romance. I swear if you added anything remotely romantic together text-wise, it wouldn’t equal 10% of the book.

I was hoping for more based on the main characters and Carol Marinelli’s storytelling skills.

Everything felt off on the romance side. Mechanical, awkward, implausible?

It’s too bad the potential wasn’t reached on the romance. It was a good story with a plot that kept moving... but not what I hoped for based on the blurb. Doubtful I’d read again.

[Abanobi Noella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was worth it and the character build was incredible

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dr Carlisle's Child was only CM's 2nd book & it shows. I bought it partly because of the cute cover, of father & son doing the washing up, on the original Australian/UK paperback. The shirtless MMC on the American/Kindle cover is pretty generic.

Dr Lucinda Chambers is a cardio-thoracic surgeon, only child of ambitious plastic surgeon parents. She's just started working at Melbourne Central hospital. Anaesthetist Seb Carlisle is recently divorced & has custody of his 5 year old severely asthmatic son Billy.

Lucinda's parents & Seb's ex Gemma are one-dimensional & too awful for words. The attitudes to women's roles are old-fashioned. The sex scene is cringe-worthy & the epilogue cheesy. On p106 Lucinda teases Seb's nipples with her long nails. I'd have thought long nails were unhygienic for a surgeon, as well as likely to damage her surgical gloves. And two thirds in there are misunderstandings leading to a break-up, before she discovers she's expecting twins, which she doesn't tell him about.

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotionally moving read - very well written. Quite a few touching scenes that either bring a smile to your face or tears to your eyes and a very witty thoughtful boy that steals your heart.