The Bachelor Doctor's Bride - Caro Carson (HSE #2334 - May 2014)

Series: Doctors MacDowell (Book 3)

Paging Dr. Love!

Cardiologist Quinn MacDowell has no time for affairs of the heart -- especially those not related to his job. So when bubbly Diana Connor gets underneath his white coat like no woman has before, Quinn is determined to keep his hands, and his heart, to himself. She's just too…well, peppy…for a man as serious as him. Or so he keeps telling himself…

No matter how hard she tries, Diana just can't seem to break through Quinn's icy facade. The hunky doctor must want someone who doesn't come with all of her baggage. But then these polar opposites find themselves working side by side, and both are hit by Cupid's arrow -- for which there's no cure!

Good book with two people who seemed to be total opposites. Quinn is a serious guy. As a heart doctor he deals with science, not emotion. As a member of the family that founded the hospital, he has spent the last couple years trying to keep it going, leaving little time for any kind of relationship. He's also not a fan of these required functions, so this charity ball is something to just be endured. Then he is accosted by the perky Diana, who is determined to see him have a good time. Diana hates seeing people unhappy and has a talent for matching them up with just what they need. She notices him right away and is compelled to change his evening.

I thought the ball scene was a lot of fun. Quinn has realized that there is something missing in his life after watching his brother dance with his wife. Perhaps it is time to look for a wife of his own. It shouldn't be a problem to find someone suitable. But with Diana finding women for him to dance with, he's more interested in her than anyone else, which baffles him. She's nothing like anyone he's ever been interested in before. I loved the way he relaxed with her and just enjoyed himself. That enjoyment turned more intense by the end of the evening.

I loved seeing Diana's joy in helping people have a good time. It was fun seeing her get Quinn dancing. I also enjoyed seeing her reactions to him and how much she liked him. It wasn't so much fun seeing how sure she was that she was all wrong for him herself. She always seemed so surprised when he would do or say something nice to her. She also had a wonderful sensitivity to other people's distress. She could tell that something was bothering Quinn and when she found out what it was she was determined to be there for him. I loved seeing their attraction heat up.

Quinn was very confused at how much he wanted to keep Diana in his life. She was so different, but she made him feel so good. He also had trouble treating her the same way he had previous relationships. Those he had always kept separate from his professional life, but Diana refused to be kept apart. She wanted to hear about his day, and she had no trouble sharing him with his job. I loved seeing her stand up to him when he tried to keep her separate. He also started to get to know her and tried to understand her. 

Diana lost her mother when she was born, and only had a single letter she had written to remember her by. Her mom talked about making other people happy and not being selfish. So Diana keeps trying to give Quinn up for someone she thinks would be better for him, but Quinn refuses to go. He sees that they could be happy together, but he has to convince her. There are a couple great moments where he stands up for her against some really snotty people, and I have high hopes that she will start to see that she deserves to be happy too. But there is one more hurdle she has to overcome, and I loved seeing that it was Quinn who gave her the ability to do it. The ending was sweet.

The Doctor's Former Fiancee - Caro Carson (HSE #2316 - Feb 2014)

Series: Doctors MacDowell (Book 2)

When Braden MacDowell is reunited with Lana Donnoli, will their rivalry douse the last spark of their youthful infatuation--or ignite embers that never stopped smoldering?

She didn't want to imagine that the Braden MacDowell she had once loved could have turned so cold and calculating. But the billionaire CEO was taking away Dr. Lana Donnoli's funding. Just what was going on beneath her ex-fiance's icy facade? And just what could she do to get him to change his stubborn mind?

The last place Braden wanted to be was back in his family's hospital, close to the woman who had owned his heart. His business was all about the bottom line, a fact Lana just couldn't comprehend. But their passion for each other was still just as intense, still impossible to resist. Would those old feelings be enough to get them to a place where love was the best medicine?

Very good reunion story with feelings of guilt, expectations, forgiveness and healing.  Lana had called off their engagement six years earlier when she saw their lives going in drastically different directions and she hasn't seen Braden since then.  Then, on her first day as head of research at West Central, Braden arrives to cancel the funding on one of her research projects.  She can't believe that he would put money ahead of the good of the patients.  What she needs is to find a way to change his mind.  She's not happy to discover that the attraction between them is just as strong as it ever was, because she doesn't see any way to reconcile their two completely different mindsets.  I felt so bad for Lana.  She and Braden had met and fallen in love during medical school.  Their dream was to open a practice together and build a life together.  During their final year she saw him suddenly start to pull away from medicine and start talking about getting a business degree.  She felt betrayed by him and abandoned when he left Texas for Harvard.  To top it off, she felt guilty about miscarrying their baby, blaming her workaholic habits for it.  Now that he's back, she's fighting that attraction because she still doesn't see a future for them.  She thinks that Braden would blame her for what happened.  But as they work together to find a way to keep her research going, she discovers that after six years apart perhaps both of them have learned a little about the art of compromise and communication.  I loved seeing Lana finally tell him what had driven them apart and the effect it was still having on her life and her fears of their future.  

Braden had realized quickly during medical school that being a doctor was not going to make him happy, in spite of the family tradition.  He was much more interested in the business side of the profession.  Unfortunately he was never able to convince Lana and he was heartbroken when she ended their engagement.  Six years later he is dating another woman and considering marriage to her, but feels that he has to lay the ghosts of his past to rest.  He uses the research funding as an excuse to come to West Central and confront his memories of Lana, not expecting to see her in person.  He is stunned to realize that he never stopped loving her.  Now he wants to find out what went wrong before, and see if there is a way to be together again.  I loved Braden's determination to win Lana back.  His idea of the camping trip, where there were no distractions, was a real winner and it was great to see them finally begin to get to the bottom of their problems.  It was nice to see him admit to his own role in their issues.  The real challenge came when he had to go back to work and they had to deal with separations.  I loved the ending and how they worked everything out.  I have to say that I suspected that Braden would end up doing what he did and found it to be the perfect solution.

I really enjoyed seeing both Lana and Braden show their individual strengths.  Her abilities as a doctor are outstanding, as is shown during the accident scene that they help at.  I really liked Braden's obvious appreciation of her skills.  Braden was a little harder to like at the beginning because his financial abilities seemed to have made him uncaring of the results of his actions.  But he did end up willing to help her find a way to continue the program.  I liked that he had they courage to go after his own dreams rather than just do what was expected of him.