Spotlight & Giveaway: Nurse to Forever Mom by Susan Carlisle

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome romance author Susan Carlisle to HJ!

Hi Susan and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Nurse to Forever Mom!

 
Hello everyone.
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Stacey, a traveling nurse works with single father Dr. Cody,.They agree to an affair for a few weeks but when Stacey leaves is it really over?
You can see I’m not really great a twitter!
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“Lizzy honey. Stay still,” Dr. Cody Brennan squatted on his heels in the hallway in front of the Daycare suite to re-tie his daughter’s hair bow. He couldn’t keep his frustration out of his voice as he fumbled at forming a loop with the slick ribbon. Suturing he’d learned in medical school not securing bows.
“Daddyyyy, it has to be right,” Lizzy’s whine echoed off the hallway built of glass.
“Hey, mind if I give it a try?” a sweet sounding feminine voice beside him asked.
Cody looked over his shoulder. Two large, sympatric green eyes with thick dark lashes met his gaze.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This is a continuity -Single Hot Docs-that 4 authors put together. Three in England, one in Scotland and the other in the US. Three of them had to wait 5 hours until I woke to make a decision on something in their books.
• The island of the coast of Boston is fictitious but everyone of the authors wished they could live there.
• The island has a big SUV that they use as a emergency vehicle. The other authors were surprised that I drive something like it, everyday.
• I’m as creative as Stacy.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Cody is attracted to Stacey because she stands up to him. She isn’t intimidated by who he is.More than once she speaks her mind to Cody. She is her own woman while being soft as well.

Stacey likes the fact that Cody is such a caring person, not only with patients but his daughters as well. Stacey is able to see his big heart even when he tries to hide it.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

Exciting, hot, moving, passionate and loving.
 

The First Kiss…

Did it really surprise her he would want to kiss her? Was she honestly unaware of how appealing she was? “I know this is a bad idea on so many levels.” His head moved closer. “You are a colleague. I promised myself I wouldn’t bring anyone into my girls’ lives who wasn’t staying for the long haul. Yet along came you.”
His lips met hers. So delicious. Tender, yielding. Perfect. He wanted more.
Stacey pushed him away. “Don’t,” she commanded. “We can’t do this.” She opened the door and hurried out.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

When they are riding back on the ferry from Boston.

“Not to be rude but I’ve got to close my eyes for a few minutes.”
He stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles. “Not rude at all. It was a long night.”
The ferry gently rocked. In minutes Stacey’s breathing turned even. When her head lobbed forward Cody put his arm around her shoulder and brought her to him. Her head rested on his chest. It had been a long time since he’d held a sleeping woman. Unable to resist he brushed his cheek against her hair. It was as soft as it looked and smelled faintly of the peaches he remembered.
She murmured, shifted toward him then settled.
Cody closed his eyes. It seemed only seconds later the push of hands on his chest woke him.
Stacey’s eyes were wide and her hair wild as she stared at him in alarm. She had such expressive eyes. Cody couldn’t imagine her telling a convincing lie.
“I’m sorry I went to sleep on you. I hope I didn’t drooled on you.” She brushed at his chest. The tip of her fingers leaving hot spots through the fabric of his shirt.
He grinned. “I didn’t mind. Your head was bobbing, and I felt sorry for you. Especially after I’d already woke you once today, uh yesterday. I didn’t want to do it again.”
“I wasn’t asleep on the deck. I was thinking. Enjoying the sunshine.” She stretched showing a hint of skin at her waist before she tugged at her clothes, adjusting them.
His body react in ways that had been dormant for far too long. This was his nurse. He had no business obliging her. He couldn’t help himself. Something about Stacey made his blood warm. He grinned. “Looked like sleeping on the job to me.”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

The scene where Stacey is helping the girls to find costumes for a program. This scene shows Stacey as a creative person who is willing to go the extra mile to help. Cody can clearly see that Stacey is the type of mother that he would like the girls to have. It makes him like Stacey even more.

Readers should read this book …

Because the characters are deep with real problems to overcome. Everyone loves a hero that has children and the woman who fills the hole in their hearts. Plus, the setting is super neat. Don’t miss this book.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I will have a book out in the summer. I am currently working on another continuity that takes place in Scotland. It will be a Christmas release with snow and wonderful Scottish accents.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print copy of Nurse to Forever Mom by Susan Carlisle

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Would you enjoy living on an island?

 
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Excerpt from Nurse to Forever Mom:

“Lizzy honey. Stay still,” Dr. Cody Brennan squatted on his heels in the hallway in front of the Daycare suite to re-tie his daughter’s hair bow. He couldn’t keep his frustration out of his voice as he fumbled at forming a loop with the slick ribbon. Suturing he’d learned in medical school not securing bows.
“Daddyyyy, it has to be right,” Lizzy’s whine echoed off the hallway built of glass.
“Hey, mind if I give it a try?” a sweet sounding feminine voice beside him asked.
Cody looked over his shoulder. Two large, sympatric green eyes with thick dark lashes met his gaze.
“Daddyyyy,” Lizzy moaned.
Not giving him a choice the woman moved in close. A hint of peach tickled his nose as she tugged the ribbon from his hand, hers brushing over his. With a quick side step, he moved aside giving her better access to Lizzy’s ponytail.
As if by magic Lizzy went statue still and the woman in a deft twirl of fingers secured the bow.
“There you go,” she announced with such fanfare that she might have been giving Lizzy an award.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
Lizzy pulled on his hand. “Let’s go, Daddy.”
“You need to tell the lady thank you first.” He used his stern father voice.
“Thank you,” Lizzy obeyed with uncharacteristic shyness.
“No problem.” The woman smiled.
The beautiful upturn of her mouth captivated him. Her full lips surrounded white straight teeth creating a unique sunbeam that pulled him towards her, making him feel good. A sensation he’d not experienced in a long time.
Lizzy tugged on his hand again. Seeing she had regained his attention she towed him into the Daycare. When he walked out a few minutes later, he looked for the woman. There was no one in sight. She’d been wearing a knit top and jeans, so she must be making an early morning patient visit. Why she had grabbed his attention so, he couldn’t fathom.
He’d been off women for what seemed like ages now and that suited him fine. After the years of anguish and constant distress his ex-wife Rachaelhad put them through, his children and he had found contentment. Throughout his life he had admired his parents’ marriage. He wanted one like theirs but that dream had been destroyed by the reality of a wife struggling with a drug addiction. Supporting her and raising two small children while at the same time completing his medical training had made him want to find a simpler life. Moving to Maple Island had given him that. It had taken years but he now had the peace he hoped for and the ability to give his girls the attention and security they deserved. Bringing someone into their world would only disrupt what he had so carefully built.
After a car accident, his ex-wife had become hooked on pain killers. He seen the signs, had tried to help Rachael. She was in and out of rehabilitation but nothing seem to work. Life became a round of clinics, counseling, begging and shouting. After finding one of his prescription pads missing he knew the crisis Rachael had created had to end. He finally accepted defeat. Their marriage was over. He had the girls to consider. Unable to save Rachael, he had to think of Jean and Lizzy and his sanity. He filed for divorce and full custody. With years’ worth of documentation against Rachael, her parental rights were permanently revoked. Being a solitary parent and a surgeon with a demanding job hadn’t been part of his life plan, yet here he was.
Soon after the custody trial he’d met Alex and the answer to his problem had been born. Every day he was grateful for that serendipitous bar conversation he’d had with Dr. Alex Kirkland about the perils and the pitfalls of solo parenting. Through their commiseration the dream of a first-class, cutting-edge clinic with an equally state-of-the-art daycare for employees was born. Faster than Cody had imagined, he’d become Alex’s partner and co-founder of the Maple Island Clinic off the coast of Massachusetts.
The daycare had been a lifesaver, but Cody’s problem this morning had been that children were supposed to show up already dressed for the day and in his five-year-old daughter’s mind that included a properly tied hair bow. Lizzy didn’t consider herself dressed without a ribbon in her hair.
Like this morning, Cody sometimes worried he might not be enough for Jean and Lizzy. He often felt they needed that special attention that only a woman could provide. He shoved that thought away, his teeth clenching from the force of his resolve. He couldn’t risk a repeat of the hell Rachael had put them through. What if he chose wrong again?
Enough of those thoughts. He didn’t have time to review ugly memories. Besides being a single parent, as an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knees and legs, he had a busy clinic and full surgery schedule to occupy his mind. Some attractive woman visiting a patient shouldn’t even be a concern.
Heading down the hall, he soon entered his office and habitually checked the time. He could complete some paperwork and make a couple of phone calls before he was needed in the OR.
An hour later dressed in green scrubs and matching surgical gown with mask in place he pushed through the OR doors. He had a meniscus repair to perform. It always troubled him that he was intelligent enough to do such delicate surgery but he couldn’t save Rachael.
His team was waiting on him. The patient was on the table with his left knee surrounded by blue sterile drapes.
Cody looked at Mark, the anesthesiologist.
“All set,” Mark confirmed without being asked.
“Everyone ready?” Cody glanced around the table.
All eyes focused on him then a feminine voice from across the patient said, “Yes.”
His scrutiny fell on her. Dressed in the same surgical garb as he, all he could see of her was her enthralling green eyes. They were familiar but he didn’t know why. “And you are?”
“Stacey Ryder, your clinical nurse specialist. I thought I’d stand in and see your technique. It makes it easier to sound confident in front of the family when I’ve seen the doctor in action.”
Normally Cody would have met his replacement nurse before she started. Instead he had trusted the personal department to handle it. His regular nurse would be out for a month taking care of her aging mother after a surgery. He had just vetted this new one on paper seeing she came with the highest recommendations. However, her straight forward approach hadn’t been noted.
There were suppressed mummers behind the masks of his team members. Were they as shocked by her boldness as he? As a rule, the people he worked with didn’t use such an imperious tone with him.
Cody caught and held her attention. “You’re welcome to stay but don’t be in the way.”
“Understood, Doctor.”
Giving her a curt nod he crisply announced, “Let’s get this tennis player back on the court.”
“Yes, sir.” Stacey Ryder quipped with a note of humor in her voice as if she had given him a mental salute. He narrowed his eyes. She didn’t blink.
Dismissing her, Cody looked at the knee making sure it was the one he’d written his initials on. The patient’s leg already had a tourniquet in placed and was held secured to the table in a padded leg holder. Cody made a small incision to prepare for the diagnostic camera that would give him a view of the joint. He located the damaged meniscus and probed it with a tiny metal hook.
“This is going to be a pretty extensive repair. I hope no one has early lunch plans. Shaver.”
The surgical nurse handed the instrument to him. He trimmed the edges of the tear. “This isn’t going to be enough.”
“Why not?” his new clinical nurse asked.
“Because I’m not pleased with the blood flow.”
She looked at him. “So, what’re you going to do?”
He glared back at her. “Ms. Ryder, I don’t usually teach procedure during my operations.”
“I’m sure you don’t but I’d like to know enough to help the families understand and also save you time when you talk to them.”
Cody couldn’t fault her logic. “I’m going to make the lining bleed and then suture it together. First I need to make another incision to work through to do that.” As he did so blood oozed into the field making his visibility poor. Without him having to ask, Stacey used already prepared gauzes on forceps to wipe it away.
“We need to get that under control before I continue,” he stated. “I’m ready to suture.”
His surgical nurse handed him the equipment required.
“Nurse Ryder, I need you to keep the area clear while I work.”
“Yes, sir.” She replaced the gauze and dabbed the area.
Cody watched. “Good.” He worked the thread into a neat stitch.
“Doctor, since you seem to have improved your tying skills since this morning I’m going to go speak to the family now. They must be anxious.”
Cody glared at her. Her eyes snapped with humor. That second he realized why he recognized those eyes. She was referring to his inability to tie Lizzy’s bow. They would have a talk about her OR decorum later. His voice tight with disapproval he said, “Please tell the family I’ll be out to see them in soon.”
“Yes, sir.” She quietly left.
For some reason the room felt cooler.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Could a temporary arrival…

Lead to a forever mommy?

In this Single Dad Docs story, Maple Island Clinic founder Dr. Cody Brennan is committed to protecting himself and his two little girls from any more heartbreak. But vibrant temp nurse Stacey Ryder challenges him and their emotional connection slips past his defenses. As Stacey’s time at the clinic draws to an end, can Cody and his daughters convince her she’s the one they’ve been waiting for?
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Susan Carlisle’s love affair with books began when she made a bad grade in math in the sixth grade. Not allowed to watch TV until she brought the grade up, Susan filled her time with books. She turned her love of reading into a love of writing romance. Susan has currently authored more than twenty-five books for the HarperCollins Harlequin imprint medical line. Her heroes are strong, vibrant man and the woman that challenge them.
In her past life Susan has been a full time mother to four children, a high school substitute teacher and now when she isn’t writing she is busy being a fun grandmother. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband of over thirty-five years. Susan loves castles, traveling, cross-stitching and reads voraciously. Visit her at www.SusanCarlisle.com
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