I Can’t Dance Alone by Maggie Brown is a small town enemies to lovers in northeastern Australia.
Even though Doctor Sarah Phillips is cranky after leaving a lucrative and prestigious surgery career for rural Arrow Creek, crash landing on the hunky veterinarian who picked her up at the airport is super exciting. No boyfriend has ever made her feel that way.
Harry Roberts becomes cranky while the gorgeous doctor crawls all over her to escape the truck after a crash. The overdressed and apparently clumsy doc finally gets out of the wreck, but their lives continue to be thrown together in the sometimes dangerous rural area.
Writing
Because there’s no good reason for the women to be so prickly with each other, there’s not much suspense about a growing relationship. Sarah is hooked on Harry from the moment she lands on her in the wrecked truck, which can either be a meet-cute or a meet ugly depending on the reader’s viewpoint. That means the pacing of their romance becomes a bit of a balancing act, and the author does a great job with it.
Sarah narrates the story, which makes sense because her character experiences the most growth and change throughout. The author provides a tiny bit of humor, some great suspense and not too much drama. Both Sarah and Harry take some getting used to, because they’re more consistently irritable than typical romance characters.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Prickly is the word for Sarah, and this causes some surprisingly fun run-ins with Harry, who gets her back up easily as well. I was impressed with how loveable the author could make these two while keeping their cantankerous attitudes intact. I actually didn’t like Sarah at the beginning of the book, but the doc’s selfless bravery won me over.
The character of very rural Australia lends a lot to the story. The land is beautiful but dangerous, and the people who inhabit it are well-drawn and sometimes surprising. The author makes small town living relatable and desirable.
Heads Up
Threat of and description of a sexual assault.
The Conclusion
Sarah leaves big city surgery for small town doctoring and quickly runs into equally prickly Harry the vet. She’s confused by how quickly the woman turns her on, and has to work through her attraction while learning the ropes in rural northeastern Australia.
A well-paced enemies-to-lovers romance has a great setting that challenges the characters as much as their physical attraction to each other.
Excerpt from I Can’t Dance Alone by Maggie Brown
When she reopened them, she found Harry’s eyes fixed on her.
“You look like something the cat dragged in.”
“Hello to you too. Bad day, I’m afraid.”
“Did you eat a bullock raw? There’s blood all over you.”
Sarah sat up straighter. “Sorry. I didn’t have time to change just for you. We’re not on a bloody date.” Then, realising what she had said, she chuckled. “Technically, I guess it is a bloody date. I’ve got it all over me, and you’ve got it pumping out your arm.”
Harry burst into laughter.
Unable to stop herself, Sarah flashed a huge grin back. “You…”Then, without thought, she reached forward, pushed back a strand of hair from the vet’s face and trailed a finger down the side of her cheek. “You have a great smile, Harriett Roberts.”
When the door opened and the duty sister bustled in, Sarah jumped back guiltily.
“How’s the blood going, Doctor?”
She flushed. She hadn’t looked. She quickly glanced down. “Just about full.” With a twist, she disconnected it, clamped the top of the bag, then joined another on and stood up. “I’ll get this started. We’ll need another bag on hand. How’s Sally?”
“BP’s still too low, but she’s holding her own. I’ll take that bag to Dr. Morris. He wants you to stay here to get off your feet for a while. Doctor’s orders. He’ll call you if he needs to.”
Self-conscious, Sarah sank back into the seat as the nurse exited. She remained silent for a moment, then said softly. “How’re you going? Sorry we must take a second lot, but you’re our only donor.”
A whisper came from the bed. “Just goes to show there’s truth in the old saying—my blood’s worth bottling. I’ll be fine. I want to help.”
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Bits and Bobs
ASIN number: B0C5RST53B
Publisher: Indie Author
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