When adventurous and sexy becomes the most thrilling dare of all...
Conservative psychiatrist, Grant Anderson plays by the rules, believing he's in complete control of his own deep, dark compulsions. Just on the brink of making a life-altering decision, a minor accident lands him in the emergency room. Encountering the irresistible and outrageous Kate Sumner changes everything for the stuffy psychiatrist. Suddenly, the fun-loving, adventure-seeking nurse tempts Grant in ways he's never known, daring him to forgo all inhibitions and expectations. Will the doctor learn that pleasure is the world's best medicine?
Buy link:
https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Best-Medicine-Contemporary-Medical-ebook/dp/B01N7N0B25/
Standard Author Interview
Do you have any news you’d like to share with us?
My new release will be included in the next Growlers and Prowlers Boxed set to be released April 4th. This is my first step into the realm of the paranormal. It’s titled Chicks Dig Scars.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I’m a critical care nurse trained in trauma, cardiac and surgical intensive care medicine. I was recovering a lot of open heart surgery patients at the time. I don’t know if you know this, but traditionally, cardiovascular surgeons aren’t the nicest guys to work with. A lot of them are just plain jerks. Some will yell, throw things, accuse the nurses when their patients aren’t doing well… I’d pretty much had it and decided to put them all into one hot package and make him a nice guy by the end of the book. It was very cathartic. LOL
How much of your book(s) have a bit of you in the characters?
Oh, gosh, I think my heroines all have a piece of me in them. Faith has my obsession with chocolate. Roxanne has my love of baking and cooking. JJ has my potty mouth and love of useless facts no one would ever care about. Kate has my love of life and adventure. Rachel has my love of nursing and compassion for my patients. The list goes on.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Sure. Here’s part of the opening chapter of Chicks Dig Scars. This is unedited as the manuscript is with my editor.
Live! Damn it, Live!
Warm tears streamed down Rachel O’Dea’s face. She pumped on Seamus Jameson’s chest and tried to swallow past the lump of pain and helplessness that formed in her throat. She couldn’t even verbally count each concise, rapid chest compression out loud to the code team anymore. It was all she could do to maintain her composure and continue to assist.
The shrill alarms still buzzed loudly in her ears. Rachel’s gaze shot to the bedside heart monitor displaying his oxygen level, blood pressure and heartbeat. All read zero.
Life! Come on Seamus. Come on. I need something to work with here. Give me a sign. Beat, dammit!
“Let go, Rachel girl. Let go.”
Seamus’ Irish lilt gently washed over her and she faltered. She dared a glance at his grey face, void of all signs of life. A sob wrenched from her parted lips. No! She refused to accept what her eyes told her. Rachel moved her gaze from Seamus’ lifeless body to the overhead monitor. Green, flat lines seemed to mock her from the flashing lights on the display. She restarted chest compressions with renewed vigor. “Come back, damn you,” she said in a pain filled voice.
“Rachel.” She ignored the compassion in her best friend and fellow nurse Laura Parker’s voice. That tone of finality fueled her efforts and she continued. Seamus couldn’t be dead. He’d only been sixty-five. Rachel loved him as much as her own father. He’d been a dear friend and confidant. Had she failed him when it had mattered most?
“Rachel. Stop. Dr. Morris called it,” Laura Parker said, gently laying a hand on her arm.
God, no. “Called it? No, we can’t stop now. What about another amp of epinephrine? Do we have any more sodium bicarb? Have his blood gases come back?”
It’s okay, Rachel girl.
Rachel hesitated, could almost hear his voice, the pet name he called her, like he’d already given up, but that was impossible. Only this morning they’d been talking about all the things he’d wanted to get finished before he’d pass into the great beyond as he’d referred to the afterlife. He’d missed his wife, Evie, and had told her many times over the last year that one day they’d be together again.
Laura’s lips moved, but it was Seamus’ voice Rachel heard.
Let me go, Rachel girl.
Rachel glanced at Laura. “What?”
Laura covered Rachel’s clasped hands with her own and stilled her compressions. “I said it’s over, hon. He’s gone. Dr. Morris called it. “I’ll do his post mortem care. Why don’t you take a break, huh?”
Rachel stared at her palms on Seamus’ chest. She inhaled a ragged breath. The smell of death hung in the air. Her eyes were drawn to Seamus’s lifeless body, ravaged by the code. Blood spattered the sheets from the multiple lab draws, and empty syringes from the cardiac meds given intravenously, littered the bed. All the drawers from the crash cart were opened haphazardly as the team had rifled through them during the resuscitation effort.
For a moment there she could have sworn she’d heard Seamus’ voice, but as her tear-filled gaze swept over him, she knew that to be impossible. His skin was gray with deep purplish hues around his ears and neck. While she'd pressed down on his chest, she was sure she'd felt one of his ribs crack. Bile rose in the back of Rachel’s throat. She fought back the urge to gag, unable to stop staring.
An endotracheal tube, used to give him oxygen during the team's resuscitation efforts, dangled uselessly from his mouth. His blue eyes—once so full of laughter and joy—now clouded, stared sightlessly.
Rachel’s chest knotted with guilt. How could this have happened? When she'd started her shift today, he'd been feeling so much better. Had she missed something? Some vital sign or subtle change in his physical assessment that would've clued her in to his impending death? Seamus hadn't even begun to enjoy the beginning of what was supposed to be his golden years.
Unable to stand the sight of him like this, she gathered fresh linens and a pink bath basin.
“Why don’t you take that break? Or, better yet, the day off.” Laura rubbed Rachel on the back. “We’ll cover your patients.”
Rachel continued to prepare to clean him up and shook her head. She inhaled deeply. Blinking back the tears, she shed her latex gloves, dumped them in the trash and walked to the sink to wash her hands. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. What had she missed?
“Stop chewing on your bottom lip.” Laura’s soft words interrupted her thoughts.
Rachel popped her lip from her teeth. “I’m not.”
“Yeah, right. You’ve done it since the first time we met. You remember?”
She shook her head in denial.
“When we were in kindergarten, Mitch Caine pulled on your pigtails and you punched him in the stomach. Then we both shoved him into the sandbox.” Laura chuckled.
“Oh, yeah. He was so mad. The neighborhood cats had been using it as a litter box. I’d forgotten that little gem. How do you remember all that stuff?” Rachel asked.
“He blipped my creep radar, kind of like our new administrator. God that guy gives me the willies. He was just standing there in the doorway during the code with his creeper smile playing about his lips.” Laura rubbed her arms with her hands as if she was trying to warm herself.
Rachel frowned. Laura’s creep radar was always spot on. Listening to her friend when it had come to dating her ex husband, Mick, would have saved her a whole lot of pain and misery.
Would’ve, should’ve, could’ve… Rachel sighed.
Laura pushed the crash cart out the door into the hall then turned her attention toward the bed as Rachel dried her hands with paper towels from the dispenser. She tossed the waste into the trash.
“Laura,” Rachel said softly. “I got this.”
Laura pierced her with her worried gaze. “You sure, hon?”
Rachel took several deep breaths and pulled a fresh pair of latex gloves on, struggling with the rubber over her still damp hands. “I can’t let you all do my work for me. Thanks to the all-mighty budget cuts, we’re stretched to the limit as it is.” She grimaced. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to bag him.”
Laura hesitated. “Well,” she said. “If you’re sure… I’ll try and get a hold of his son again. Ruby wasn’t having any luck earlier when all this went down.”
Rachel nodded, staring at Seamus’ lifeless body. She heard the soft click of the door behind her as Laura left the room. Her vision blurred. Covering her eyes with her hands, she fought the grief that threatened to pull her beneath a strong under toe, where everything was cold and dark.
He’s in a better place now.
He doesn’t have to suffer any more.
Rachel tried to console herself with the same words she told family members who’d had loved ones pass away. The words seemed so hollow and empty. She’d never, ever speak them again. She choked back a sob. God, sometimes her job sucked.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Finding the time to write. I work 2 full time jobs trying to get my children through college. Someday I’ll be a full time writer and part time nurse
What was the hardest part of writing your book(s)?
Trying to show you all the real life medical action without it coming across as too technical. I want my readers to understand what they’re reading and I strive to make that happen. That’s why I consider myself lucky that the editors I’ve had the privilege of working with don’t have a medical background.
Do you have anything else you’d like to add?
My current Novella, Sex Is The Best Medicine is available for preorder now on Amazon. This is where you’ll read Dr. Grant Anderson’s story. Here’s the blurb:
When adventurous and sexy becomes the most thrilling dare of all...
Conservative psychiatrist, Grant Anderson plays by the rules, believing he's in complete control of his own deep, dark compulsions. Just on the brink of making a life-altering decision, a minor accident lands him in the emergency room. Encountering the irresistible and outrageous Kate Sumner changes everything for the stuffy psychiatrist. Suddenly, the fun-loving, adventure-seeking nurse tempts Grant in ways he's never known, daring him to forgo all inhibitions and expectations. Will the doctor learn that pleasure is the world's best medicine?
About Kathleen:
Full time nurse, amateur cake baker, writer, and zombie obsessed, Kathleen draws a lot from the real-life medical drama she experiences as a RN for her novels. Writing romance is a creative outlet where she can effectively deal with the daily stress and sorrow, adding levity and humor to situations that provide a happily ever after when there isn't one. She has recently discovered the fantastic world of air ambulance after 20+ years of working critical care in the hospital and relishes her role as a flight nurse!
Social Links:
Twitter @KathleenGrieve
Facebook
BookBub Profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathleen-grieve
Sex Best Medicine Tour Schedule
2/10
Sensuous Promos
2/10
Nic’s Book Nook
2/11
Nicki Day
2/11
Colleen S. Myers
2/12
Get Cozy
2/12
The Book Pub
2/13
Darkest Cravings
2/13
Nicole Morgan
2/14
All My Book Finds
2/14
Taylor Brooks
