Critical Care: My Review

Some of my first "grown-up" books were those paperback nurse romances that my local library kept on a shelf right next to the children's section (that was in the days before teens had their own rooms at the library). I liked them so much that I decided I was going to be a nurse when I grew up, a goal that lasted until I took (and hated) high school chemistry. The self-knowledge I've gained since then confirms that giving up that goal was the right thing to do, even if the reason was wrong. In any case, this book, Critical Care by Candace Calvert, reminded me of those old books.

Critical Care is primarily a romance novel. Her name is Claire and she is a nurse-educator who used to be an ER nurse. Her nurse-educator credentials are newly-minted, compliments of an inheritance from her brother, a firefighter who died in the ER where she was working. Needless to say, she wants no part of ER work and charts a career course as far away from it as possible. His name is Logan and he is the doctor in charge of the ER. They meet when she is called to the ER to do crisis intervention with the staff after a daycare explosion. He doesn't believe in counselling and all that touchy-feely stuff. They are attracted to each other nevertheless. Like many of those old nurse novels I used to read, he is demanding and hard to work for--but it is because of his deep care for his patients.

Critical Care is Christian fiction. I'd say it follows the typical Christian fiction romance model of at least one of the characters having to find God before they can live happily ever after. I'm also pleased to say the book has a definite pro-life message.

While Critical Care is a romance, and is primarily about the two lead characters, two of the other nurses get a lot of lines, and since this is the first book in a series, I'd guess that the next two will be about them.

I enjoyed Critical Care. There was nothing terribly original about it, but it was a light, fun read; the perfect way to veg out after having spent the week in trial.

Check out the author's website.

First Wildcard will tour this book July 1. Check back then the read the first chapter.