RJ Nolan

To be honest, I read this book years ago, but I couldn't remember the whole plot 100%. So I picked it up and reread it.

The story takes place in LA Metro Hospital. More specifically, in an emergency room. The main characters are the head of the ER, Dr Jess McKenna, and the psychiatrist, Dr Kim Donovan. There were always problems between the ER and the psychiatrist's department for a long time. That changed when Kim started at the LA Metro Hospital. Jess was pleasantly surprised, as she had only ever had negative experiences with their hospital psychiatrists before. Also, they, Jess and Kim, hit it off right away and built up a friendship.

At first, I had trouble getting into Jess's character, but that changed after she gradually revealed more of herself. In the end, her behaviour made sense once you knew her past. Kim is her polar opposite and, unlike Jess, is an entirely open and friendly person.

I love hospital stories because I live for the drama there. ;-)

That said, this book has two points that bothered me:

First: I was a bit annoyed by the inner dialogues because they were just too over the top for me.

Second: In the last third, a trauma is revealed. And honestly, that was a bit too detailed for me. I realise that it's essential to tell stories like this, but honestly, it triggered me.

Apart from these two points, it is a beautiful story with fascinating primary and secondary characters.

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Find more reviews on my blog www.wordsandfiction.com.… (meer)

I was of two minds about this novel.

It's the story of Kim and Jess. Kim is a new staff psychiatrist at LA Metro. She's come from a hospital in Detroit and left it in not a good way, personally and professionally.

Jess it the Head of the ER at LA Metro and considered quite the Ice Queen. But, she too has a lot in her past that's not sunshine and puppies.

As they say a couple of times in the novel, they're quite the pair.

On the less great side, a lot of the book seemed sort of repetitive. One step forward, two back in the relationship between the two women. Over and over. And that made some parts of the book really, really drag.

On the other hand, a lot of the characters really jumped off the page (I won't say I 'liked' all the characters, but, I liked some and disliked others where appropriate). From Penny to Terrell to Peter they were all very interesting and unique.

And, of course, there was Sam. I can't wait to read the next book in the series to have more of her character (I think it's about her). Oh, and, how could I almost forget Thor. As a person who is deathly afraid of all mid-sized and big dogs (and wary of the smaller ones) his character took me a little while to get used to, but, I did love how he was written by the end of the book.… (meer)

I absolutely love this sweet read about a police officer (Sam McKenna) and a trauma surgeon (Riley Connolly) who meet under very trying circumstances and slowly forge a friendship that turns into something more.

Unlike Nolan's previous book L.A. Metro, which is good but did not speak to me as much as this book does, In A Heartbeat moved me very much. It is adorable, sincere and extremely vulnerable in emotion.

Of particular note is the way R.J. Nolan deals with such heatbreaking issues as coming out to family members and how horribly strong self doubt can be and what it can do to relationships.
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L.A. Metro is an amazing read, especially for its genre. If you're like I am and always looking for a kindhearted romance with some adorable sweetness and lots of "does she or does she not?" tension thrown in, then this is the book for you.

If you quickly lose your patience upon realizing some women can be just a bit dim-witted when it comes to picking up their cues, then you might not enjoy Kim and Jess's slow building relationship as it transforms from spirited friendship into gentle, unconditional love.

The main characters are endearing and likable. Jess is not nearly the "Ice Queen" you think she's going to be based on the book blurb. Of all the secondary characters, Sam McKenna (Jess's sister who gets her own story in In A Heartbeat) is the most unique. I'm looking forward to the spin-off.

I could have done without the homophobic-spewing straight men stereotypes found here (would it hurt to have a few positive male role models in lesfic?) but other than that, I thought L.A. Metro was a nice way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. I'd give it 4 warm and fuzzy stars. :)
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