Beg, Borrow or Steal by Susie TateMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Susie Tate's Broken Heart novels and couldn't believe my luck when I saw this one available on NetGalley - a rabid dog couldn't have lunged harder than I did for that request button! Susie writes humorous romances set against the backdrop of British hospitals, as a General Practitioner she knows her stuff and her novels are full of medical terms and puns - but please don't let that put you off because she can also be knicker-wettingly funny.
Jamie Grantham is a young successful anaesthetist and Medical Education Director at a London Hospital. He is pretty proud of himself for being a fun, engaged kind of guy so he is beyond irritated to see that one of the students in the back row of the lecture hall is asleep during his lecture. When he wakes her (in a rather sarcastic and unkind way) he is shocked that this young girl, dressed like a bag-lady, is the most arrestingly beautiful woman he has ever seen.
Libby Penny is struggling to keep her head above water. A single mother with an enchanting but ferociously precocious four year old daughter she is trying to balance training to be a doctor with caring for her daughter and earning a living the only way she can. At first Dr Grantham is openly dismissive of her, particularly scathing about her repeatedly falling asleep whilst he is teaching but when he comes face to face (well small foot to shin) with Libby's daughter Rosie all the pieces start to fall into place. Gradually Jamie tries to insert himself into Libby's life but having been brought up in a wealthy family he really doesn't understand the issues Libby faces or the choices she has to make.
Love, love, loved it. Jamie is well-meaning but his own childhood has made him aspire to be Peter Perfect in every way and Libby's choices don't always gel with that conditioning. Libby is such a contradiction, a stunningly beautiful woman who is also a sci-fi nerd and has no interest in clothes or make-up, a devoted mother, former athlete and brilliant student. Even the ancillary cast are great. I am so thrilled at the very quick sneak peak at Millie and Pav's story as they were both strong ancillary characters that I wanted to know more about.
If you've read the Broken Heart quartet I would say this is slightly less 'quirky', although there are still some brilliantly funny lines, but if you loved those books then I'm sure you will love this too. Heck, I stayed up until 3:30 am to finish reading this when I have a really busy day at work today!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment