When Contrasting Worlds Meet
Harrison Grant, a handsome man with rich brown eyes and brown hair, is lucky that the psychological scars of his childhood aren’t visible. Growing up as the son of two successful parents, both specialist physicians with stellar careers, he was always held to an impossibly high standard, which older sister Stella proved easily accessible, but less easily achieved by the younger child, Harrison.
But while his family seemed to be the model of intellectual achievement, they were devoid of emotional empathy, especially the uniqueness of the individual, and especially when it came to the uniqueness of their own children. So, it was a stunning setback for the elder Grants when as valedictorian, Stella, in her graduation speech pulled back the curtains on the homelife of her “perfect family.” So, rather than following her parents expected academic plans for her which included college and medical school, she left. And so, for the next 19 years, while no longer compared to his elder sibling, Stella, Harrison was gifted to the micro-management of his parents’ academic and professional guidance.
Now, he is a surgeon at well-financed Angel’s Grace Memorial Hospital of Los Angeles, California, but he still disappoints his parents—he didn’t follow their footsteps along the very refined pathway of medical specialty. And, he has continued to refine his ability to buck the system and directives, becoming the apparent “hospital lothario” on call. But, the Chief of Staff, Dr. John Balford, has had enough. He tells his rising star surgeon to pack his bag and to head to
While Harrison has all the makings of being a stellar surgeon, he lacks the emotional discipline with co-workers and the emotional empathy needed with his patients. And the final line is crossed unknowingly by the stellar surgeon when the social media claims of a female resident are both awkward and embarrassing for the hospital. So, the chief has sent his best young surgeon to the small community hospital of Middlebend, Montana. And as far as Harrison is concerned, the Chief might as well have sent him to the outer regions of Nowhere.
The heart of the small community of Middlebend and its hospital is Chloe Munroe, a beautiful native of the community. A green-eyed, strawberry blonde, 3rd year resident with both medical skills and a natural, loving empathy, Chloe shares herself effortlessly with anyone whom she encounters. Raised by the collective community after her single parent mom died of an overdose when Chloe was only 5, she knows everyone and they know, trust and love her. So, when she encounters the “big city doctor” who has been assigned to the out-of-state hospital she is wary of him, his motives and the reasons for his precipitous assignment to the small, understaffed and underfunded community hospital, leaving behind the prestigious LA world.
But her patience with the “Hollywood Hunk” is further strained when the Middlebend Chief Dr. Rodney Perkins assigns the two polar opposites to work together on a grant that would allow the small impoverished local regional hospital to not just stay open, but provide the area with adequate staff, an equipped emergency care unit and ambulances that could be the difference in life-or-death situations. And while Chloe has spent every extra waking minute combing through grant applications and is thrilled that the Chief has assigned the new doctor to assist her search, she is unnerved by this particular doctor’s assistance. The previous night, in a rare moment of weakness and excessive alcohol, Chloe engaged in “stranger sex” with a handsome man whom she assumes is a “traveler”, just passing through her community, out behind the local pub, The Nosedive. Now, the next day at the hospital, she is assigned to work with the newly arrived LA doctor, who is also the “traveler” from the satisfyingly passionate previous night.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review ARCS, but I enjoyed the reading experience so much that I bought a copy for my "read-again" titles.