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The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance
The Best of the Year Medical Romance
How to Find a Man in Five Dates
Tina Beckett
A Date with Her Valentine Doc
Melanie Milburne
Baby Twins to Bind Them
Carol Marinelli
Meant to be Family
Marion Lennox
Tempted by Her Italian Surgeon
Louisa George
Her Greek Doctor’s Proposal
Robin Gianna
Unlocking Her Surgeon’s Heart
Fiona Lowe
Best Friend to Perfect Bride
Jennifer Taylor
French Fling to Forever
Karin Baine
Falling for Her Reluctant Sheikh
Amalie Berlin
A Touch of Christmas Magic
Scarlet Wilson
A Mummy to Make Christmas
Susanne Hampton
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
How to Find a Man in Five Dates
Dear Reader
Praise for Tina Beckett
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
A Date with Her Valentine Doc
Dear Reader
About the Author
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
Baby Twins to Bind Them
About the Author
Dear Reader
Praise for Carol Marinelli
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EPILOGUE
Meant to be Family
Dear Reader
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tempted by Her Italian Surgeon
Praise for Louisa George
About the Author
Dear Reader
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Her Greek Doctor’s Proposal
Praise for Robin Gianna
Dear Reader
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Unlocking Her Surgeon’s Heart
Introduction
About the Author
Dear Reader
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
Best Friend to Perfect Bride
Dear Reader
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
French Fling to Forever
Excerpt
Dear Reader
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
Falling for Her Reluctant Sheikh
Praise for Amalie Berlin
Excerpt
Dear Reader
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
A Touch of Christmas Magic
Introduction
Dear Reader
About the Author
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
A Mummy to Make Christmas
Praise for Susanne Hampton
Excerpt
Dear Reader
About the Author
Acknowledgements
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
EPILOGUE
Copyright
When the clock strikes midnight...
Dr. Miranda Dupris is fed up with men! Her ban on relationships is a New Year’s resolution she is determined to keep. To prove it, she’ll go on twenty-five dates in one year—and that’s first dates only. Maybe then Mira will be able to find Mr. Right!
Finding a man is one thing. But when sun-kissed doc Jack Perry arrives in a spray of perfect snow it soon looks as if Mira might be destined to lose her hundred-dollar bet...along with her heart!
New Year’s Resolutions!
Resolutions are made to be broken...!
Childhood friends Mira and Ellory each make a New Year’s resolution to stay away from love. Little do they know that fate has other things in mind...
When two hunky doctors hit the slopes, escaping their past in the deep snowy mountains, the last thing they expect to find is two wonderful women who can heal minds, bodies and souls...and maybe these brooding doctors’ hearts!
This New Year, lose yourself in these magical snowy romances from Harlequin Medical Romance authors
Tina Beckett and Amalie Berlin
Read Jack and Mira’s story in
HOW TO FIND A MAN IN FIVE DATES
Read Anson and Ellory’s story in
BREAKING HER NO-DATING RULE
Dear Reader,
I seem to have a love/hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. I love making them. Keeping them? Hmm...not so much.
When the heroine of How to Find a Man in Five Dates makes a crazy resolution one snowy New Year’s Eve she has every intention of keeping it. After all, she’s fresh out of a disastrous relationship and not looking to start anything new. What she doesn’t count on, however, is coming to the rescue of a surfer-dude-turned-newbie-skier when he wipes out on his first run down the slopes. What starts off as one date turns into two, and soon she is doing some slipping and sliding of her own...emotionally.
Thank you for joining Mira and Jack as they make their way down a treacherous slope where trust and self-forgiveness become rules to live by—and hopefully find love along the way. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I loved writing it!
Have fun on those ski slopes of life—and maybe even break a resolution or two of your own!
Love,
Tina Beckett
Praise for Tina Beckett:
“A tension-filled emotional story with just the right amount of drama. The author’s vivid description of the Brazilian jungle and its people make this story something special.”
—RT Book Reviews on
DOCTOR’S GUIDE TO DATING IN THE JUNGLE
“Medical Romance lovers will definitely like NYC ANGELS: FLIRTING WITH DANGER by Tina Beckett—for who doesn’t like a good forbidden romance?”
—Harlequin Junkie
PROLOGUE
HERE’S TO A brand-new year.
Dr. Miranda Dupris clutched her empty champagne flute and waited for the dreaded annual countdown to begin. The huge gathering area of her father’s lodge—with its vaulted ceilings and blazing fireplace—was packed, the free food and drinks drawing in legions of guests and employees, all hoping the year ahead would be kinder than the one they were leaving behind.
Or maybe that was just her.
A fresh glass of glittery amber liquid was pressed into her hand, while the empty one was plucked free and deposited onto the tray of one of the serving staff. The smell of champagne clogged her senses, its sharp bite a welcome diversion.
“Mira, we totally forgot to make our resolutions!” Her best friend grinned at her, long blonde curls bouncing as she swirled the contents of her own glass. “Let’s do them now. That way you can dump Robert into the universe’s nearest black hole and start over.”
At the mention of her ex-fiancé, Mira curled her toes into the ankle-slaying red stilettos while the familiar sting of betrayal lanced through her gut.
Never again. Never, ever again.
If anyone was jumping into the nearest black hole, it was going to be her.
She was done with relationships. For good this time. Three failed engagements in the last seven years should tell her something.
“I’m all for that.” She forced her lips to tilt upward, trying not to ruin their New Year’s Eve tradition, something she and Ellory had done for the last ten years in this very room. She lifted her glass. “I’ll even go first. I hereby swear off committed relationships for the next twelve months.”
Her friend laughed. “What about uncommitted ones?”
What about them?
Oh! Her foggy brain finally put two and two together. Ellory was asking if she was swearing off men altogether. Was she?
Maybe that was a bit too extreme. She did like men. Some of them, anyway. Just not certain bastardly ski instructors.
“Uncommitted is good. More than good, actually.” She raised her glass even higher. “Okay, how about this, then? I resolve to date twenty-five men over the next year with no emotional involvement whatsoever. Zip. Nada.”
Her friend blinked. “Whoa.” Ellory now had to yell over the crowd as the clock hands on the huge screen across from them shifted closer and closer to the witching hour. “Are you serious? Miss Monogamy Dupris is going to serial date?”
Um...yes. Why not?
The idea sounded more and more attractive. Or maybe that was the three glasses of champagne she’d had. Whatever. She took another bracing sip. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Serial date. Twenty-five men...one year.”
“This I’ve got to see. Bet you a hundred bucks you either back out or you don’t make it past man number five without getting attached to him.”
Ha! Unless the fifth guy was a puppy hiding in a man suit, she didn’t see that happening.
“Make it ten men. No, wait...all twenty-five. And backing out is not an option.” She waggled her shoulders back and forth, her courage growing with each passing moment. “Tell you what. Next New Year’s Eve we’ll see who pays whom. Your turn. What’s your resolution? And it’d better be good!”
“Well, if you can swear off serious relationships, I can swear off men altogether—maybe work on myself for a change, take on a project. And I’ll bet the same amount of money that I will follow through.” Ellory’s expression had taken on a serious note, totally out of character for her fun-loving friend.
But with the hands almost at the top of the dial, she didn’t have time to question her. “Okay, so we each have a hundred dollars riding on our resolutions, right?”
“Right.”
She’d just gotten the words out when a cacophony of voices began chanting backwards from ten. Ellory clinked her glass against Mira’s and they downed the last of their drinks.
Confetti rained all around her, the cheers and laughter of the crowd forming a frothy wave of mirth that carried her up and out of her funk. Mira caught her friend up in a tight hug, so glad Ellory had come to stay with her for a while.
She stepped back, about to say something, when a masculine voice came from behind her. “Well, well, well. Looks like I’m not the only one without a date tonight. Or are you two together?”
Mira’s eyes widened when she realized the slightly slurred tones were far too close to her ear for comfort. Still holding onto one of Ellory’s hands, she raised her brows in question. Surely not.
“Turn around,” her friend mouthed. “He’s talking to you.”
Knees quivering, Mira released her hand and pivoted on the spiked heel of her shoe until she was face to face with a beefy hunk who could have stepped straight out of an ad for a gym membership. He was tall and buff, and his too-tanned-to-be-real neck rose from a pressed white shirt and black tux. His blue eyes gleamed with something that looked like...interest. Or boredom. She couldn’t decide which.
“I—I...” Her mind went blank, and she scrabbled for the nearest coherent sentence. “Er...hello.”
How the hell did one serial date, anyway? She’d have to ask Ellory for some pointers later.
The man’s smile grew. “I waited a whole ten minutes to make sure no irate boyfriend was going to bust my jaw for coming over here. I noticed you as soon as you walked through the door. Are you alone?”
Oh, no. Not this fast.
She glanced back at her friend, who opened her beaded purse and tipped it toward her with a knowing jiggle. “You want to pay up now, honey?”
Egads. The woman knew right where to hit.
Straightening her spine, she turned back to the man in question. “Yep. I’m alone.”
“What say I buy you a drink, then?”
Since the booze was free, that was hardly an enticing offer. But if her job was to stay unattached, this guy seemed like the obvious choice.
“What say you do?” Mira tried for a purr, but it came off sounding like an asthmatic wheeze.
Before she could chicken out, she handed her empty champagne glass to Ellory, who stared at her with undisguised shock. Mira leaned forward and whispered two words, drawing them out for emphasis. “Game. On.”
CHAPTER ONE
JACKSON PERRY WAS going to fall.
No matter how many times he tried to stab his ski poles into the snow, they ended up flailing around like twin javelins about to be launched by a drunken athlete.
Make your skis into a wedge to slow your rate of descent.
The instructor’s mandatory lesson played through his skull, but actually obeying that advice was almost impossible, since he was too busy trying to find his center of gravity as his body continued to pick up speed down the slope. He tried to ride it out like a surfer on a killer wave. Only skis were nothing like the smooth, wide surface of his well-waxed board. And the ground looked a whole lot harder than the soft embrace of the ocean.
Wobble.
Correct.
Wobble.
Correct.
Not. Gonna. Freakin’. Work...
A brilliant plume of white spray rose up as Jack belly-flopped onto the snow, his skis detaching from his boots—thank God. He bounced his way over some moguls, instinctively tightening his abs to absorb as much of the impact as possible. Fifty yards later he slid to an ignominious halt, still facing the bottom of the hill. He had one pole in his hand, the other was long gone, probably back there with his skis.
Good thing he hadn’t tried a tougher slope.
Sucking down breaths into lungs that felt like they were on fire, he assessed his body bone by bone, tendon by tendon. Knees? Undamaged. Wrists? Still there. Ego? He’d come back to that one later. Skull? Intact, although he wondered about his sanity in agreeing to this damned vacation.
He raised a hand to wipe away some of the snow on his face, only to find his gloves were also covered in the stuff.
Hell!
Take a vacation. Have some fun. You need a break.
Or else.
His coach may not have added those last two words, but Jack had seen them written in the tight lines of the man’s face when he’d been late to yet another early morning meeting. The product of a recurring nightmare followed up by a sleeping pill. He hadn’t even heard the alarm the next morning.
Go skiing, Jack...or I’m afraid we’ll have to find ourselves a new doctor.
So, was the plan working?
Oh, yeah. So far, he was having a blast.
And every damn memory he’d been trying to forget had followed him right down that hill, crashing into the snow beside him.
Several more skiers sailed by, none of them seeming to have any trouble with the so-called “bunny slope.” Nothing like wiping out on your very first run.
A pair of skis came into view. Angled just like the instructor had described. Perfect. He glanced up, squinting to see past the blinding midmorning sun.
“Need some help there?”
A vision in a white ski jacket and matching snow pants stood before him, the light seeming to halo around the figure’s shoulders and head.
Maybe he’d hit the ground harder than he’d thought.
He shook his head and then struggled into a sitting position, but the slick fabric of his own suit caused him to slide down the hill a few more feet. The person matched his downward trajectory inch for inch, again coming to a halt right as he did. Still on her feet.
A quick feminine laugh met his ears. “Here, take my hand. Your boots should help you gain some traction. I’ve already picked up your skis and pole.”
He glanced up again and saw that the woman—and she was definitely a woman—did indeed have his errant equipment caged in the crook of her arm. A white-gloved hand stretched down toward him.
Definitely not a beginner. At least, he hoped not, otherwise he might as well throw in the towel and stick to football and watersports.
“I’m good.” The last thing he wanted was to bring her down with him. He struggled to his feet, somehow succeeding on the first try. She was right, though, about the boots giving him traction.
“Think you can make it to the bottom?” She flipped her goggles up over her head, causing the fur-trimmed hood of her jacket to fall back, revealing a pink knit aviator hat. Soft brown eyes that were alight with humor regarded him.
She’d probably get a lot of mileage out of this story over drinks with her friends later on.
She was exactly what he pictured when he thought of snow bunnies, from her matchy-matchy suit to her obvious ease in the frigid environment. Even her complexion was pale and frosty, with just a touch of pink warming her lips and cheeks. Cool and untouchable. All except for the flaming locks now visible from beneath her hat.
Just like Paula’s hair had been. His teeth clenched.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Right. She was still waiting for him to tell her if he could make it down the hill.
“I’ll be fine from here. Thanks again for the help. If you’ll just hand me my gear...”
“First time on the slopes?”
Wasn’t it obvious? A spark of male pride urged him to tell her that he’d once competed in some of the biggest surfing competitions California had to offer. But that had been before he’d gotten his medical license and changed his focus to football. Before the accident that had changed his life forever.
Coach was right. He’d let himself go over the last four years.
“Yep.” His eyes tracked a little girl zipping down the course with ease. “They make it look so easy.”
The woman glanced over her shoulder with a smile. “Yes, they do.” She turned back and held out her hand again. “Miranda Dupris.”
“Jack Perry.” He took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze, suddenly glad they both had on gloves. Even so, something in his gut twisted at the brief contact.
A voice came from the side. “Hey, Florence Nightingale, do you mind clearing the slope? I don’t want a pile-up on my watch.” His instructor from a few minutes ago pushed his poles into the snow and surged past them, heading on down the hill. He didn’t glance their way, but something about the wry twist to his voice said he knew Miranda. Quite well, in fact.
Of course the guy knew her. She was a snow bunny. She probably knew all the instructors by name.
Then a strange thing happened. Instead of waving to the man with a laugh, her brown eyes went from smiling and carefree to cool and irritated in the space of a few seconds.
A woman scorned? Or something else?
“Come on,” she said. “I’ll buy you a hot chocolate once we get to the bottom.”
He almost groaned. He’d been hoping to clomp his way down the hill and head straight to his room, where he could lick his wounded ego in private. The last thing he wanted to do was hang around the bar with a woman who’d seen him at his worst.
