Never Date a Doctor
Melanie A. Smith
Publication date: February 25th 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
From best-selling author Melanie A. Smith comes the first book in a new series of steamy contemporary medical romance standalone novels about life lessons that break all the rules.
What’s the first rule of nurse’s club? That’s right: Never date a doctor. Which Sasha Suvorin has no intention of doing anyway, since she’s a nurse at Rutherford Hospital by day and working on her master’s degree by night. Who has time for dating, much less dating someone you work with? Bad idea much?
That is, until the sexy British Dr. Caleb Thompson starts at her hospital. It also doesn’t help that he’s exactly her type with his dark hair, blue eyes, and rockin’ bod. Or that he’s not your typical arrogant and bossy surgeon. But Sasha isn’t so easily convinced, and she soon discovers Dr. Hottie has a past that puts a stop to whatever she might have been feeling before anything ever starts between them.
Unfortunately, working together means facing temptation. Every. Single. Day. Is Sasha strong enough to resist what might just be the perfect man? And if she gives in, will Cal’s past stay in the past? Sasha may be used to playing it safe, but life has a way of teaching its lessons … one way or another.
Research...What it takes:
Never Date a Doctor: A Life Lessons Novel is a contemporary/medical romance set to the backdrop of the fictional Rutherford Hospital’s cardiac unit. It’s always important to me that my setting be realistic without being overwhelming. So, while the medical part is present, it’s meant to add a layer of structure to the plot and enhance the various sorts of conflict. The trick was balancing that with not getting overly technical.
Still, I like to make sure even the small details are as accurate as possible. Since I took all of the undergraduate classes required for medical school, and my older brother is a surgeon, between that and my recent experience actually undergoing various cardiac tests (don’t worry, I’m fine, turns out it was just a pickle addiction that lead to high blood pressure), I already had a pretty good handle on the general hospital/medical topics.
I did, however, have to do some light research on the specific duties of each type of hospital job included, which I actually enjoyed. I was most familiar with the doctor’s qualifications and roles but had to look more closely at the others. As I researched the different functions of human resources, hospital administration, orderlies, medical assistants, nurses, and nurse practitioners, though, I learned quite a bit. Serious props to our medical community, y’all, they’re amazing in the hours they work, their dedication, and all at relatively low pay.
So that’s the technical bits, but there are two other layers of research that I do for every book. First, location. Never Date a Doctor is set in San Diego, California. It’s a place I’ve actually been (and I almost exclusively write places I’ve actually lived or visited so I know their vibe). All of the neighborhoods, restaurants, and geography I use are based on actual places, though I shy away from specifically naming them for a variety of reasons.
Second, time. My books always flow in real time, and I legit have a calendar I write the flow of the novel onto. I even research local happenings and events to incorporate them into my story lines. Will anyone else ever notice these things? Probably not. But I’m a details person, so it tickles me to be able to make the experience as set-in-reality as possible.
Since I normally write romantic suspense, where there’s minor violence that includes bodily injury and, occasionally, murder, I’ll say this book was the least weird research I’ve had to do, and it’s purposely pretty low-level on anything technical. I really wanted to focus on the romantic tension and how it wove with the things going on in the main character’s lives. Hopefully the researched details serve to make it more realistic and relatable. Because I sure enjoyed trying to make it the best experience possible. And I’m always open to feedback, so give it a read and let me know what you think!
Author Bio:
Melanie A. Smith is the best-selling author of The Safeguarded Heart Series and other contemporary romance fiction. Originally from upstate New York, she spent most of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Los Angeles for college. After that, she spent almost fifteen years in the Seattle Area, and now lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas with her family.
A voracious reader and lifelong writer, Melanie’s writing began at a young age with short stories and poetry. Having completed a bachelor of science in electrical engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s in business administration at the University of Washington, her writing abilities were mainly utilized for technical documents as a lead engineer for the Boeing Company, where she worked for ten years.
After shifting careers to domestic engineering and property management in 2015, she eventually found a balance where she was able to return to writing fiction.
Melanie is also a Mensan and enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and driving with the windows down and the stereo cranked up loud.
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