Thanks so
much to my dear friend, Casey for inviting me to guest post today here. She's
one of the kindest, sweetest people I know and she sure can write naughty
stories.
I have a
release that came out a little over a week ago and thought I'd share that here
today. This story is called Doctor,
Lover, Baronet and is set in England. I'm a huge Anglophile and love to
travel over to various areas of Great Britain. I like to use those locations in
my stories, too. It's my little escape to another land. I'm lucky enough to be
able to share those little fantasies with readers.
The idea
for this story came from a friend who lives in Southampton, England who had to
wait an abnormally long period of time for medical treatment under their
national health service. Her medical condition was not the same as the
heroine's but the fact that she had to wait so long intrigued me and thus, a
story was born.
Blurb:
Donya Spencer, a busy art gallery manager in
London, finds herself battling double vision and dizziness. She doesn’t have
time to be ill and finds herself battling the national health care system for
months. When she finally gets to see a specialist, she finds the man to be
sexy, handsome, and very much her type. Knowing there can be no relationship
due to medical ethics, she tries to resist his charming manner.
Colin Knight is the heir to a baronetcy whose
father is pressuring him to marry and have children. This is an impossible task
for Colin. He’s also a neurosurgeon who hasn’t opened his heart to love since the
death of his young girlfriend many years ago. He works hard at the career he
pursues relentlessly in an effort to somehow atone for the accident that killed
his love. He meets Donya, and the comfortable bachelor life he’s made for
himself is turned upside down.
Excerpt:
She
looked around and noticed Alec StClair standing sideways in the doorway talking
with someone she couldn’t see. The other man had his back to the room. She
rose, shook off her melancholy, and approached Alec.
“Hey,
Alec, remember me from the gallery?” She touched him on the shoulder.
He
turned around. “Of course I do, Donya. You’re the other bridesmaid—the one that
planned that huge art show. Do you know Colin Knight?”
She
glanced up the man who had been speaking to Alec. “Yes. We’ve met. How are
you?” She held her hand out to be shaken. Oh, God. It was her doctor. She hoped
he wouldn’t say anything. This was pretty awkward.
“I’m
fine. And you?” He smiled down at her and shook her proffered hand.
“Passable.”
“Sorry,
guys,” Alec said. “I’m going to have to leave you for a second. I think Roxanne
has had too much to drink. I recognize the signs that she’s going to fall out.
I better go get her a chair.”
“Alec,
there you are in your role of rescuer again.” Donya laughed.
“Yep.
That’s me. I’m a regular knight in shining armor. Although I shouldn’t say that
as a true Knight is standing there beside you.” He laughed at his own joke and
made his way across the room to Roxanne.
Donya
looked up at Colin. “I had rather hoped for a certain Dr. Knight to be my
knight in shining armor to fix my head. But, alas, I’m afraid it’s going to be
too late.”
“I do
intend to be your surgeon. What do you mean, too late?”
“I lose
more vision by the day, and the surgery couldn’t be scheduled as quickly as I’d
been led to hope for by you.”
“What
do you mean? When’s it scheduled? I told my nurse to set you first available.”
“It’s
set for two weeks from this coming Monday.”
“What?
That’s not acceptable. I had no idea.”
“That
was what your nurse told me. She said the operatory would not be available for
me until then. Apparently, they were booked solid for three weeks.”
“Damned
National Health Service,” he muttered. He took her hand. “Donya. I promise you,
I’m going to see what I can do to move up the date. I’m sorry about this. I
have no real control over the availability of the facilities. There’re so many
rules and regulations involved. But I promise, I’ll do what I can.”
“I
understand that there may be people in more urgent need than me, but I’m
frustrated with the whole thing.”
“I
know. I know. Believe me, I get that way, too. Sometimes I wonder why I’m still
trying to help people. The system needs some serious revamping.”
Tara
danced over, with yet another glass of wine in her hand, to where Colin and
Donya were talking. “Why are you so solemn? This is a party, and I command you
to dance. Now.” She spun off. She took a big swig of her wine and spilled most
of it down her shirtfront.
Colin
shrugged at Donya. “She has had some wine tonight, huh? Would you like
to dance?”
“Sure.
If you think it proper to dance with one’s surgeon.” Can I handle him
holding me in his arms? He’s so magnetic and handsome, I may pass out.
“I
wasn’t sure if they knew I’m your surgeon, so I didn’t say anything. I think it
may be harder for you if you refuse my offer, as Tara seems a bit worse for
wear and she may make a scene. Even though she looks pretty in pink, I know she
can be an arse sometimes.”
“I have
no intention of turning down your invitation to dance, and no, they don’t know
you’re my surgeon and I prefer to keep it that way. Was the ‘pretty in pink’
comment a reference to the movie?” she asked.
“Yeah.
And me being your surgeon is our secret.” He took her hand and moved toward the
dance floor.
They
approached the floor. The tempo changed and a slow song, Gerald Alston singing
the Sam Cooke song “You Send Me,” came on. Colin held out his arms to Donya,
and she stepped into them. They swayed slowly across the floor. “I thought I
recognized you from somewhere when you came in my office,” Colin said. “I
couldn’t place you, but I knew I’d seen you. What Alec said reminded me of
where. It was at the gallery gala night. Are you an artist? Is that how you
know Tara?”
“No.
I’m not an artist. Just an art lover and former magazine junior editor who went
to Oxford to obtain a History of Art degree when I got bored with editing. I’m
the manager of the gallery. I saw you there that night, too. If you recall, you
caught me in the hallway and told me I needed to see a doctor. Why didn’t you
tell me you were a doctor?”
“Why
didn’t you say anything that day in my office?” he asked, seeming to deflect
her question.
“I was
afraid that you wouldn’t perform my surgery if you knew we had mutual friends.”
The truth was, she was terrified to lose her chance to get well, but she wasn’t
ready to share that with him.
“No.
Actually, that’s how I get a lot of referrals.” He smiled down at her
BOOK TRAILOR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzgbKxLs0ic
10 comments:
Thanks for inviting me over, Casey!
I've been a fan of this story for a long time. Glad the rest of the world is going to get a chance to read it. Thanks for having Jillian here to promote it Casey.
Sounds like there are some pretty high stakes for Donya. I'm excited to read this story.
Thanks Darlene, for encouraging me to drag this one out from under the virtual bed and keep polishing it.
Thanks Laurie, Remember, if I totally screwed up the medical part, don't tell me so I can live on in ignorance. LOL!
Hi, Jillian!
You had me at "pretty in pink" and Sam Cooke! LOL! Congratulations on your new release. The story sounds great!
Thanks Naima. I love Sam. One of Colin's quirks in this story is his quoting American pop culture things. He talks about the Partridge Family, The Magic Eight Ball, One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, etc. It was fun to add this quirk to his personality
Love the excerpt. I'm glad you dragged this out from under your bed, too! It definitely shouldn't be sleeping with the dust bunnies.
Thanks Dalton. Those words mean a lot to me. I appreciate it!
Thanks for visiting, Jillian! Come back to NAC anytime!
Thanks Casey! AND thanks for the open invite. It was fun!
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