December is I :::Heart::: the Holidays month at my blog. During these next twenty-two days, besides the usual blog posts, I’m featuring authors who write holiday romance. Today, I have Linda O’Connor in the interview chair. We’re discussing Perfectly Christmas, book five in the Perfectly series. Be sure to check out the excerpt.
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On the first day of Christmas, his true love said to him, “Sorry, I have to work.”
That’s the life of a surgeon, and Dr. Madison Hayes wouldn’t have it any other way.
Dr. Quinn Malone has another priority. In the countdown to Christmas, he needs to convince his old flame that there’s more to life – and love – than the job itself.
This time, his heart is in it for the long haul. Really.
Romantic and . . . complicated – it’s Perfectly Christmas!
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Madison is a feisty skilled general surgeon, but the first day of her new job was anything but smooth! Enjoy this excerpt ~
Madison looked at the panel helplessly and wondered if she could wait outside. Holy cow that was loud. She heard the din of a siren over the scream of the alarm. Her heart pounded as she imagined trying to explain who she was and why she didn’t know the security code. What were the chances of the gossip mill working in her favor?
The door was yanked open, and in a whoosh of cold air, a tall male with a sprinkling of snow on his ski jacket walked over and punched in a series of numbers on a panel by the door. The silence was startling.
“I am so sorry,” Madison said as he turned to look at her.
She froze. Blue eyes. Square jaw. His hair was shorter, his shoulders broader, but it was the same arrogant look she’d known.
Quinn Malone.
And not a hint of recognition in his eyes. Perhaps that was just as well.
“I have a key, but I didn’t realize there was an alarm,” she said, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Before he had a chance to speak, the door opened a second time, and a uniformed officer walked in with his gun drawn.
Madison took a step back and held up her hands.
“Do you have some ID with you, ma’am?”
Madison winced. Ma’am? Sounded like something her grandmother should be called. “Ah, no. Not on me. I’m Madison Hayes, the new surgeon. I popped in to take a look at the clinic. Edna and Bea gave me the key, but they didn’t mention there was an alarm code I needed.”
The officer looked sideways at the younger male. “You know about this, Quinn?”
“Yeah.” Quinn tilted his head and looked her in the eye. “I was expecting the new surgeon to arrive some time next week.”
Madison smiled crookedly. “I’m early. Surprise.”
The police officer grunted and put his gun in the holster. “Well, if you could show me your ID, I could get back to eating dinner with my wife.”
“Certainly, Officer. I have it next door.”
The police officer remained at the front door of the house while she found her wallet and produced her driver’s license.
Satisfied, he turned to her. “Welcome to Strathaven, Dr. Hayes. You should probably ask Quinn for the code.”
She smiled weakly. “Yes, I will. Thanks.”
He tipped his hat and strode to his car.
She watched him drive away and rolled her eyes. Great first impression. Jeez.
So, Quinn Malone in the tiny town of Strathaven. How had that happened? Mister “I am never going to live in a small town” Malone.
A community of five thousand wasn’t small in his eyes? He had been so adamant, so arrogantly sure he’d never set foot in a city without a transit system and high-rises. And lots of outgoing, beautiful people jogging at six in the morning. She gritted her teeth. Maybe it had been replaced by his “I need a woman with big…career aspirations” mindset. That one still stung.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked across the parking lot to the clinic.
Starting a new job was great. It wasn’t stressful at all.
She pulled open the door. “Hello?” she called into the quiet.
“In here.”
She followed his voice down the hallway to the reception area.
Quinn put down a file and looked at her. “Get that all sorted out?”
“Yup.” She would not be embarrassed. “I hear you’re the keeper of the code.”
“We use the day of the week.”
She looked at him with a frown. “Really? ‘The day of the week,’ all one word?”
He laughed. “No. On Monday, we use Monday. On Tuesday, we use Tuesday . . .”
She nodded, feeling dumb and dumber. “Ah, right.” She hoped the flush she felt rising on her cheeks wasn’t noticeable. He was so intimidatingly beautiful. Dark brown hair, a hint of five o’clock shadow. He towered over her, and at five ten, that didn’t happen very often. The twelve years looked good on him. Except for the hint of mockery in those laughing blue eyes. She’d had enough of that.
Buy link (on sale for 99c!) : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYW5T7X
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Dr. Brogan Corkie is happily semi-retired from medicine and now has time for other hobbies. Her passion for food is second only to her skill at matchmaking!
Parker Roy grew up in the middle of four brothers and has lived with enough testosterone to last her a lifetime. She’s finally moved out and made a life of her own. Between putting the finishing touches on the set for Mapleton’s Christmas play, plowing snow, and transforming her hydroponic greenhouse into a Christmas wonderland, it’s ramping up to be a hectic season.
Dr. Julian Murphy, the only allergist in town, has his eye on the woman behind the set design of the holiday play. He’s volunteering backstage in the hope of getting to know her. There’s a bit of a snag when she’s referred to his clinic for a rash – doctors aren’t allowed to date their patients – but Dr. Brogan Corkie doesn’t see it as an insurmountable problem and steps in to give their romance a nudge. She’d better be right because, if not, it could seriously mess with Christmas.
The allergist or the rash– which itch will Parker scratch?
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L1DHDMS
Linda O'Connor, Author 