Deliver Me is a reissue from 2007 frequently offered by Farrah Rochon as a freebie. I really enjoyed this book yet have almost nothing to say about it. Dr. Eli Holmes is a rockstar of a doctor, known for his excellent track record of maternity care as well as his penchant for delivering babies in unique places. Dr. Monica Gardner is an overachieving ER doctor on the run from personal and professional disappointment. She’s determined to make her way in New Orleans without the complications of an oversexed ladies man. Cue the fake engagement.
Ok, not really. Except yes, really. Dr. Holmes has a mother determined to marry him off and Dr. Gardner has a fundraiser she needs Eli to help pull off. I’m not sure why she needs him, given that he’s coming from a place of no and doesn’t seem to do any of the work until the end, but need him she does. A deal is struck in the time honored tradition of the genre and soon the two find themselves more than coworkers but less than lovers.
I enjoyed the family dynamics of the Holmes but Monica’s come across more as an info dump than an integration of her past into the narrative. Deliver Me starts slowly as Monica does that thing we all do – ruminate internally on the person you’re talking to and their complex history with you. (Man, I know I can’t call my sister without mentally strolling through all the… I’m lying. I never do that. Ever. I don’t even have a sister. But hey! I’m sure someone does, the way book characters are so into it and all.)
In addition to the decent family dynamics (one sided though they may be) and the strong friendship Monica has with her sister-in-law, the office politics worked for me. Having worked in a few doctor’s offices and spent plenty of time in hospitals, they frequently are the hot beds of potential STD transfer that Deliver Me paints them. (My best girl is an ER nurse and man, the stories we swap!) Like I said, mostly I’ve got nothing. Deliver Me is a sweet contemporary romance with checking out. It’s got a slow start, a “whatever” ending and an adorable kid. Plus it’s set in New Orleans.
*This post originally appeared at Love In The Margins.
