A DOCTOR BEYOND COMPARE
MELANIE MILBURNE
ISBN: 978-0-373-06578-3/0-373-06578-7
November 2006
Harlequin
222 Duncan Mills Rd., Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9
Paperback
$4.25
184 Pages
Medical Romance
Rating: 5 Cups

“Don’t even think about it, Buddy,” were the words Dr. Holly Saxby muttered in her rearview mirror, talking to the driver of the beat up car that had hugged her bumper since the turnoff for Baronga Bay. Holly took a position in a new town, as part of a two-doctor general practice office for a year, leaving behind a bad relationship and all the memories. Now if she could just shake the beach bum who seems intent on passing her, she might get to her new home in one piece. Her mental image of the doctor she'll work with is middle-aged, married with a bit of a paunch and some hair loss. She is in for a big surprise.

Dr. Cameron McCarrick, tall, tanned, and available is the other doctor attached to Holly’s one year commitment. He is the icon of Baronga Bay, an excellent surfer, a magnificent doctor and Holly’s landlord. Cameron has had his share of bad relationships and is looking for the real thing. No more one-night stands; it is time to settle down. He has not quite figured out the fashionable new doctor from the city. She seems a bit uptight for his liking, but there is a certain magnetism between them.

Holly gets off on the wrong foot on her very first day at work. Everything she does seems to hit a nerve with someone. She knows it is not wise to berate your superior for his crazy driving and then bring up his failed personal life. But, how was she to know that this laid-back suntanned person would turn out to be her new boss? And it really was not her fault that Noel Maynard, the town’s most hated man got assigned as her patient, but since he did, she has to provide medical care for him, doesn't she? Perhaps she should not have visited the previous doctor, now housed in the nursing home wing, and upset him with her questions about the murder. After all, the man had already had a stroke. Is digging up questions about Noel the reason that someone slaughtered a chicken in her living room and splashed the walls with blood? Not to worry, Dr. McCarrick takes very good care of his cohort.

A Doctor Beyond Compare is a read beyond compare. Ms. Milburne gathers up a truckload of interesting secondary characters and a strong hero and heroine to create romance, mystery, suspense, mayhem, and a ton of emotions in one little book. The sparks that fly between Holly and Cameron ignite the rest of the story. I was so drawn into this book that I absolutely could not put it down until I turned the very last page. I am stingy with my five-cup ratings, but this one earned it, hands down and thumbs up.

Brett Scott
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books