Thursday, November 9, 2017

Holiday House Call by Jen Doyle


Dr. Karen Carmichael prides herself on being capable, optimistic and always in control. But even neurosurgeons have breaking points, especially as the holidays approach. When Karen finds herself on the side of the road, explaining to a cop that her less-than-stellar driving was due to stress and tears rather than too much booze, it's humiliating. When that cop turns out to be a one-night stand from her past, it's icing on the bad-day cake.

Officer John "Tuck" Tucker didn't expect to see Karen again after their night together. The circumstances may not be ideal, but convincing this beautiful, stubborn woman to get to know him with his clothes on is more fun than he could have imagined.

Karen swore she'd never fall for someone who risks his life for his job. She sees enough heartbreak at work without inviting it into her personal life, and she has no interest in becoming involved in the small town Tuck calls home. But despite valiant efforts to keep her walls up, her affection for Tuck is growing into something much stronger. With a life built around work alone looking less appealing by the day, Karen will have to take a leap of faith—and trust that Tuck will leap with her.


One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you're looking for with an HEA/HFN. It's a promise!

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Book 3.5
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Carina Press



Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars

I am such a huge fan of this series, but unfortunately, I didn’t completely warm to this story. This is probably the most serious book in this series so far and Tuck and Karen feel much older than characters in earlier books. For me, this story is missing some of the joy, the fun, and the self-deprecating humour I’ve come to expect from this series.

I did love Tuck. He is such a gentle, small town sheriff and I love the way he cares for everyone in his town. I also love the way Karen makes his head (and his heart) spin. Tuck is all heart and he struggles to understand Karen’s more cerebral approach to life. It annoyed me that Tuck makes all of the effort and all of the gestures in this relationship. He is wonderful and I’m not sure Karen ever fully appreciates him.

Karen is a more problematic character for me. Firstly, 37-year-old surgeons aren’t world experts. My husband and his friends are specialist doctors of a similar age – and they all still spend time learning from more experienced doctors. Secondly, she doesn’t seem to be able to handle her emotions and she has no professional detachment. I find it hard to believe that Karen is considered a world expert when her patient care is still bleeding into her personal life after ten years as a surgeon. I understood Karen’s weak social skills, but I really didn’t get on with her weepy, needy side.

Most of the women in this series have been funny, sweet, and engaging. Karen is just a little bit too serious and too anxious for me. Karen has a whole lot of baggage, but so did Lola in the third book. I just kinda wish Karen had even a touch of Lola’s sense of humour because I found it incredibly difficult to empathise with Karen – or to like her very much.

I have loved this series from the start and I’m hoping this one is just a blip. I’m sure other readers will enjoy Karen more than I did – she just didn’t work for me.


Ruthie☆☆☆☆
This is a shorter book than the others, and is described as book #3.5. I have loved all the previous books, and highly recommend them to you. This is about two new characters, but the previous couples do appear here.

Karen is a renown neurosurgeon, based in the next town over to Inspiration. She gets deeply involved with her patients, but refuses to show her tears due to criticism whilst training. This leads her to be more emotional inside, and colder outside than would seem natural. She has also seen so much heartache that she refuses to get close to people. In other words, she is bottling up most of her feelings, and kidding herself that her life is fine.

When Tuck decides that she is worth his time, and that he will prove to her that life is for living and emotions are perfectly normal, she slowly realises that he is possibly right. Obviously, there are plenty of roadblocks along the way, but he is not a man to be denied, luckily for her!

I liked the links between the backgrounds of these two people, and how differently they had chosen to live their lives, yet with the same principles of serving others. I really enjoyed that they had off-the-charts chemistry and could not deny themselves the pleasure – even when both of them know they shouldn't.

Another enjoyable read, and already want my next fix of Inspiration!


Also Available in the Calling It Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca

For reviews & more info, check out our Calling It post.


Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Called Up Blog Tour.


Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Called Out post.




A big believer in happily ever afters, Jen Doyle decided it was high time she started creating some. Jen is a member of the Romance Writers of America, as well as a member of the New England, New Jersey Romance Writers and Music City Romance Writer chapters of RWA. She is represented by Sarah E. Younger of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency. She has an M.S. in Library and Information Science and, in addition to her work as a librarian, has worked as a conference and events planner as well as a Communications and Enrollment administrator in both preschool and higher education environments (although some might say that there is very little difference between the two; Jen has no comment regarding whether she is one of the “some”).

Connect with Jen

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http://www.carinapress.com


Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Holiday House Call (Calling It #3.5) by Jen Doyle to read and review.

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