Life Support

Life Support
(Grace Medical)
Candace Calvert
(Tyndale House Publishers)
ISBN: 978-1414361130
March 2014/400 pages/$14.99
Nurse Lauren Barclay put her life on hold to keep a watchful eye on her troubled sister. It’s why she’s back in Houston. But that means confronting the brooding physician assistant who caused painful turmoil in her family—and left Lauren with memories her heart can’t forget.

PA and single parent Elijah Landry is no stranger to stormy relationships, including one with his father, who is threatening him with a restraining order. It won’t stop Eli from protecting his disabled brother—or from making peace with Lauren. He wants that and so much more.

But as Lauren and Eli draw closer, a powerful hurricane roars toward Houston. Survival instincts take priority and everything changes. Can hope weather the storm?

Read an excerpt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Candace Calvert is a former ER nurse who believes love, laughter and faith are the best medicines. Her Mercy Hospital and Grace Medical series offer readers a chance to "scrub in" on the exciting world of emergency medicine—along with a soul-soothing prescription for hope. Wife, mother, and very proud grandmother, she makes her home in northern California. Connect with Candace on her website, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as her blog, Authors' Galley: Manuscripts and Wooden Spoons.

MY THOUGHTS

Candace Calvert is one of my must-read authors, and her Grace Medical series has endeared her to me even more. (Click the titles to read my reviews of the first two books, Trauma Plan and Rescue Team.) It's no secret that as a native Texan I love a book set in the Lone Star State, and Life Support takes place in Houston, where I was born and raised, so I felt an extra connection as the characters frequented areas of town familiar to me. Calvert weaves in delightful tidbits about the city without making it sound like a travelogue, not only making me want to return to this bustling metropolis, but prompting me to feel as if I might run into Lauren, Eli, and the rest of their families and coworkers. The controlled chaos of a busy ER pulses on the pages, and I could practically hear the beeping machines and wails of approaching sirens. An approaching hurricane's threat and its impact on the city and its medical facilities are well-portrayed and become a significant component of the story, a familiar scenario to anyone who has lived along the Gulf Coast. A bigger storm brewing, however, threatens the inner peace of Lauren and Eli as they deal with difficult personal family crises while juggling their jobs in the ER of Grace Medical. As Calvert expertly grafts difficult and relevant issues, with which many readers will identify, into these likable and credible characters' lives, she also administers a large dose of hope, proving why she is known as the author of "medical hope opera." If your spirits (or your reading list!) are sagging, Life Support will revive them! Take two--and give one to a friend!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book from Candace Calvert. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”