Charge
nurse Erin Quinn escaped personal turmoil to work on the peaceful California
coast. But when a hazardous material spill places Pacific Mercy Hospital on
disaster status and stresses staff, she's put to the test. And thrown into
conflict with the fire department's handsome incident commander, who thinks her
strategy is out of line. Fire Captain Scott McKenna has felt the toxic effects
of tragedy; he's learned to go strictly by the book to advance his career, heal
his family, and protect his wounded heart. When he's forced to team with the
passionately determined ER charge nurse, sparks fly. As they work to save
lives, can they handle the attraction kindled between them . . . without
getting burned?
Disaster
Status by Candace Calvert is the second book in the Mercy Hospital series. The story follows Erin, who was a supporting
character in Critical Care, and fire fighter Scott McKenna. Scott and Erin are thrown together when they
must join forces to control the repercussions of a hazardous material spill,
and initially they seem as ill-suited as oil and water; they disagree on
everything and hardly a conversation concludes without one of them losing their
cool. The longer they are in each
other’s company, however, the better they come to understand each other and soon they
develop an attraction neither wants or understands. Both are also facing personal issues that
seem more important than getting romantically involved.
Scott
has lost faith in God following events that left him shattered. The loss of his sister rests heavily on his
heart as not a day goes by that he doesn’t ask himself if he could have saved
her that fateful day. Scott is also
tired of living in his hero father’s shadow.
He loves his father and honours his memory, but he deeply feels that he
will never live up to his father’s legacy.
What Scott fails to consider is the fact that his doubts and
insecurities might take him away from the woman who could heal his battered
heart.
Erin
has major issues with her father. He has
done nothing but let his family down, breaking his daughter’s heart over and
over again, until she finally locked him out with a refusal to ever let him
back in. This left her with a
deep-seated distrust of men in general.
Now that her father and mother have reconciled, Erin finds herself in
her family’s cross-hairs, everybody determined to get her to forgive her father,
causing Erin to isolate herself from her family even more. While Erin has no doubt that letting her
father back in her life would be a mistake, she never considers that her issues
with her father might cost her the man of her dreams.
Can
two stubborn people find a way to get over their issues and find love? Can Erin fully give her heart to a man who no
longer shares her faith? Dare she hope
that Scott can find his way back to the Lord? Can Scott face his past and open
his heart to the future? Can God find a
way to heal them both and give them the desires of their hearts?
Supporting
characters include Erin’s grandmother who is carrying a heart-breaking secret,
Scott’s nephew who is struggling with a form of survivor’s guilt and is facing
a possible leg amputation, and a damaged war veteran determined to protect the
boy at all costs.
From
the blurb I expected the hazardous material spill to be a much larger part of
the story, but it does fade into the background after Erin and Scott’s initial
meeting. Even so, this event gives the
story a solid foundation and realistic repercussions kept the story
interesting. The focus on faith is, as
always, handled wonderfully, coming across loud and clear while never becoming
preachy.
While
I liked both Erin and Scott, for some reason I did not connect with them
emotionally; not as strongly as I usually do with Calvert’s main characters. Truthfully, I was much more connected to
Leigh (who will be a main character in the next book), and I found myself more
eager to read Leigh excerpts than those of Erin and Scott. I very much look forward to reading Leigh and
Nick’s story in Code Triage, the next book in the series, and am
psychologically preparing myself – this one already has a tight hold on my
heart strings and I just know that reading it is going to be emotionally
taxing.
Calvert’s
work is, once again, top notch.
Product Information:
Title:
Disaster Status
Author:
Candace Calvert
Pages:
340
Publisher:
Tyndale House Publishers
Year:
2010
ISBN:
1414325444
ISBN-13:
9781414325446
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