She never thought she’d see her ex again…
Until she became his boss.

Parker Drake wants only one thing. To become a doctor. And he’s not going to let anything—not his bad rap as a rule-breaker or the disaster that ended his last internship—stand in his way.

He’ll even work with the one woman he never got over losing. His gorgeous ex-wife. His boss.

All work, no play? Fine by Charleston Becker. At least her job will always be there. But now the man who broke her heart. Is working in her ER, and as much as Charlie hates it, Parker’s hotter than ever.

Tempting her at every turn.

She shouldn’t want a second chance.
Parker still likes to break all the rules.
But this time, he’s playing for keeps.
And everything’s on the line.

This book was part of Long, Hot Summer a free limited edition anthology that is no longer available. As each of the books included are already released, I’m going to review them individually.

ER Attending Physician Tess Michaelson is about to go on maternity leave. Her best friend and prominent surgeon Charleston Becker will be covering for her ten weeks of leave. Charleston surprised her bosses in Nashville when she took all of her accrued vacation time to do this favor for her friend.Charleston never thought to step foot back into Remington Med once she transferred to Nashville during her internship. Hopefully the memories of her pregnancy, marriage, miscarriage and divorce won’t sneak up on her.

After spending the last five years as an EMT/Paramedic at Station 17 Parker Drake is going to finally fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. Getting this internship wasn’t easy because of the way he left one six and a half years ago. He’s more determined than ever to succeed this time.

The last thing Charleston and Parker expected was to meet up again, their last meeting was painful for them both. Now he’s going to have to work with Charleston, keep everything professional and follow all the rules. This is his only chance at the future he wants.

This is one of my favorite scenes.

“Ugh, sorry.” Tess bit her lip. “I don’t mean to give Jonah such a bad rap. He really is a great surgeon, and he’s also not a terrible guy. He’s just the poster boy for One And Done.”Charleston nodded. She knew the sort. Great doctor, great big ego. Not that she was commitment’s biggest fangirl. Once bitten, twice no freaking thank you. She’d rather focus on work, anyway. At least her job would never abandon her.

She inhaled, nice and deep. “Well, you don’t have anything to worry about. As good-looking as he is, Dr. Sheridan’s not my type.”

“He’s blond?” Tess asked. Of course she’d remember Charleston’s Kryptonite-style weakness for dark-haired men.

“He’s an M.D.,” Charleston countered. “You know I don’t mix work and pleasure.”

Okay, fine. So she did enough of the former to ensure that she never got any of the latter, unless a few stray sessions with her vibrator counted. She still had a strict hell-no policy on getting naked with co-workers.

Tess’s nod was a direct translation of that makes sense. “I’m all for pleasure, but in this case, that’s definitely smart. Unless you’re looking for a one-night stand, in which case…”

“I’m not,” Charleston assured her.

“Hey, you’re single and hot. I don’t judge.” Tess lifted her hands, and Charleston let go of the unapologetic smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“I don’t, either. If he wasn’t a doctor, I might think about it.” Never mind the fact that she’d actually have to take a night off to have a one-night stand. But come on. Saving lives was way more important than having I-saw-Jesus sex.

Which was a fucking relief, since Charleston couldn’t remember the last time she’d experienced a man-made orgasm.

She and Tess reached the end of the hallway, which opened up into a waiting room half-full of people in various states of injury, illness, or concern. A set of automatic doors marked Ambulance Bay, Do Not Block stood off to the left, with a lead-in to a separate entrance to the trauma and exam rooms. A pretty, blond woman in dark green scrubs and a doctor’s coat talked to a set of harried-looking parents nearby, the father holding a toddler and the mother nodding intently, and Tess tipped her chin in their direction.

“Natalie Kendrick is your peds attending, and she’s smart as hell. Also, probably the nicest woman you’ll ever slap eyes on.”

The parents let out gasps of relief at something Dr. Kendrick had said, and she returned their grateful hugs with a smile that would make a college cheerleader proud. “She looks it,” Charleston said.

Tess kept her voice low, but oh, Charleston knew that gleam in her best friend’s eyes all too well not to lean in. “She and Sheridan are best friends, if you can believe that. They came over from Northside Hospital a couple of years ago, right after his wedding debacle. Rumor has it Kendrick is the only unattached woman in the city he hasn’t brought to orgasm. But even though she and I have hit The Crooked Angel a handful of times after a crazy shift, and she wasn’t exactly sober for a few of them, she hasn’t given up so much as a peep about it, other than to say they’ve been best friends since they finished their residencies and they’ve never so much as held hands.”

“Wow.” Charleston’s mind spun. “Looks like this place hasn’t suffered a lack of dirt since we were interns.”

“Please. It’s a hospital. Of course we haven’t. Oh!” Tess snapped her fingers, her smile brightening. “I almost forgot! You’re not the only person starting today.”

There was no controlling Charleston’s surprised laugh. “Okay. Who am I sharing newbie duty with?”

“Newbies, of course. It’s September, which means that you, my friend, get a fresh batch of interns to boss around. They should be on their way down any minute, actually. Langston likes to spoil them with a day of orientation before we wreck them with reality.”

Charleston bit back the urge to groan. “You’re making me break in your interns?” Okay, so she was seventy-percent giving Tess shit, since A) she didn’t mind interns that much, as long as they didn’t kill anyone, and B) what are friends for? Of course, Tess didn’t so much have thick skin as she had a full set of armor, so she simply smiled.

“Yep! Look at the bright side. You won’t have to do any scut. In fact, I bet having interns here to lighten the load is going to make the next ten weeks a piece of cake for you.”

Charleston opened her mouth, a brassy retort ready to fly. But her words fell short as the doors to the ambulance bay flew open, her world tilting sharply on its axis as her ex-husband rushed through them holding a body.
Kincaid, Kimberly. Long, Hot Summer. Kindle Locations (167-202). Kindle Edition.

Parker’s already had warning from Dr. Langston, the Chief of Staff that he’d better follow all the rules or he’d be out of the program. Now he’s knows he has to work with his ex-wife and prove himself worthy of this internship. She clearly expects him to quit when the going gets tough.

Plenty of real life ER situations as well as a disaster to wade through as Charleston and Parker not only come to terms with their past but also start over. Lots of Sizzle in this book too and some interesting hints on the rest of the series.

I was going to start with Station 17 Series but now I think I’ll finish this one first.

5 Contented Purrs for Kimberly!

Kimberly Kincaid

USA Today best-selling author Kimberly Kincaid writes romantic suspense that sizzles and contemporary romance with heart and heat. Equal parts action and emotion, her firefighters and first responders always save the day.

When she’s not finding adventure with her husband, three daughters, and naughty Whippet, Olive, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book.

Kimberly’s series include Remington Medical, Station Seventeen, the Line series, Cross Creek, and her brand-new Intelligence Unit series. All titles stand alone for easy reading.