Intensive Care. Nicki Edwards

Intensive Care
Nicki Edwards
Published: Momentum Books
Date: January 2015
Format: e-ARC
Genre: Medical Romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

On the surface it looks like busy intensive care nurse Kate Kennedy has it all: a long-term relationship, a great career and a sleek inner city apartment. But appearances are deceiving, and in one fell swoop everything comes crashing down around her. In a moment of spontaneity, Kate leaves her city life and takes a new role as Nurse Unit Manager at Birrangulla Base Hospital, but her dream move proves harder than expected.

Local cafe owner Joel O’Connor finds himself increasingly drawn to the gorgeous new nurse, but like Kate, he’s been scarred by love and isn’t looking to jump into anything. Yet their chemistry is hard to deny and after a near fatal incident, Joel and Kate find themselves opening up to one another.

Just when Kate thinks she’s found love again, their fragile relationship is thwarted by their pasts. Can they both let go of their guilt and grief to move on to a bright new future?

Intensive Care by Nicki Edwards is her debut novel.  It is set in rural Australia about 5 hours west of Sydney. The setting was a wonderful little insight into this part of Australia.  There was much I really liked about this book and a few things not so much.

Kate arrives in Birangulla to take up a new job as the unit manager in the Intensive Care department. She is escaping from a relationship that has gone sour.  I found her avoidance of meeting Marcus to explain why she had left the apartment somewhat odd. Assertiveness and confrontation were not her strong points. She did grow in this a little but all in all I wanted a slightly more pushy heroine! However she did enjoy the new challenge of living in a rural setting and she is an excellent nurse. She obviously cared about her patients and more than once she shed blood, sweat and tears for them.

Joel is an Irishman whose family now live in Australia and he sure knows how to make a great coffee and is generally an all round nice guy.  However he has a background that makes him a little slow in coming forward when it comes to any new romance.  Kate also has something she is not sharing either.

For me the strong part of this book was the medical side of it.  It sounded so correct and utterly true, each time Kate was in the hospital and something was happening there I was riveted to the book.  I hope this is something Nicki Edwards will continue to include in any book she might write in the future.

In general the plot moved along at a good pace with something happening most of the time.  The romance moved slowly, there was time given for the slow build of friendship and then love for Kate and Joel.  I liked the way the relationships were shown at the Intensive Care unit and the way it was for Kate as she started her new job,it is often the way when someone new walks in to take up leadership.

I hope the author has another medical romance in the making!