Spotlight & Giveaway: The Army Doc’s Christmas Angel by Annie O’Neil

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Annie O’Neil to HJ!

Hi Annie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Army Doc’s Christmas Angel!

 
Helloooo everyone!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

This book is the third in the Hope Children’s Hospital series. It tells the story of paediatrician Dr Finn Morgan whose physical scars may have healed from his days in the military – but the emotional scars? Those are going to take a lot longer…or so he thinks. Enter Naomi Collins. Gorgeous. An amazing physio. And carrying her own emotional baggage.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

Naomi felt as if she’d walked into an alternate universe. Finn Morgan made marshmallows and flapjacks? She tried to picture him wearing a frilly pinafore and oven mitts and came up with….Oh my. That was all she pictured him in.
Unexpected.
Was that what a glimpse of the ‘heart of gold’ could do to a girl? Make a man naked?

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This book was GREAT fun to write. Harrowing at times because of each of the character’s backstories and one of the patients they are treating, but CHRISTMAS IN CAMBRIDGE? Does it get more magical than that? Once I’d decided to give Finn a houseboat and Naomi a flat above a twenty-four hour bookshop – I knew these two had to get together. Match made in hold-the-frisson heaven!
• OH! And this was crazy. The other week (this isn’t a spoiler…not really)…I was running a half marathon and at about mile 12 when I was exhausted and ready to throw in the towel I saw a man running in front of me. He looked like Finn, my hero!!! And then I looked at his feet. He had one blade for a foot and was running for fallen veterans. You could’ve blown me down with…nothing really. I burst into tears. It was SO emotional. Seeing that soldier run thirteen miles (he and I eventually crossed the finish line about the same time)…it was so humbling. And made writing this story much more powerful an experience.

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

These two have noticed one another out of the corner of their eyes for a while now. Saying that – it’s a relatively new hospital – so everyone has been pretty busy finding their feet, setting up the high standards of care. Up until now, romance hasn’t really factored. Now that the nights are drawing in, the fires are well and truly starting to be lit…these two share a patient – and a mutual attraction (for each other, obviously!)

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

I would use this one – when Naomi discovers Finn’s wartime injuries were pretty brutal. She’s been watching him through a window in a door, but hasn’t been able to see him. He looks like he is in pain…she is a physiotherapist…her gut instinct is to help:

Touch, she’d come to realize, was one of the most curative things of all.
Finn shifted around on the sofa and— Oh!
Her fingers wove together and she pressed her hands to her mouth to stem her own cry. He wore a prosthesis. She’d had no idea.
And from the looks of things, his leg was hurting. A man as strong and capably built as Finn would have to be in some serious pain to look the way he did now. Slightly ashen. Breath catching. Unaware of everything else around him.
Instinct took over.
Before she thought better of it, she was by his side.
“Please. Perhaps I can help massage…” The rest of her offer died on her lips as she saw equal hits of horror and anger flash across his gray eyes.
She stood, completely frozen, mesmerized by their near-mystical depths.
How had she never noticed them before? So…haunted. She wondered if her dark eyes looked the same.
“What are you doing here?” Finn hastily grabbed his prosthesis and strapped it back on, despite the redness she saw engulfing his knee.
“I was just— I…”
I wanted to help.
“Well?” Finn rose alongside her, the scent of cotton and forest hitting her senses as he did.
She was tall so it took a lot of height to make her feel small. If the irritation radiating from him wasn’t making her feel as if she’d invaded an incredibly private moment, she could almost imagine herself feeling delicate in his presence.
Delicate?
What was that about?
Finn scanned her uniform for her employee badge, though she was sure he already knew her name. It was his signature on the forms requesting her as Adao’s physio.
She sucked in a breath. This was about Adao, not about Finn. Although…
Not your business. You have your secrets. He has his.
“Sorry. Please. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“No.” Finn stared at her for a moment then swiped at the air between them, causing her to flinch. “What do you need?”
“I-I was here to help with Adao,” she stammered. “I thought perhaps I could help settle him in.”
“What?” Finn bridled. “You think I’m not up to being my patient’s welcoming committee?”
She tilted her head to the side and pinched her lower lip with her teeth. Was he hoping for an honest answer? Or was this the famous British sense of humor at play?
Her silence seemed to give him the “no” he was expecting. His swift change of expression told her he was already dismissing her.
So much for trying to go the extra mile! She was about to tell him Adao was her patient too when, mercifully, Finn’s phone buzzed and those penetrating, moonstone-colored eyes of his relaxed their spotlight grip on her.
He was as chatty on the phone as he was with her. A few responses of “Yeah. Yeah. Got it…” later and he was beckoning her to join him.
Okay.
He swiftly crossed to the bank of elevators—so quickly it was difficult to see how he hid the pain—and punched the illuminated button as he pulled his key card out of his pocket. Only staff were allowed up onto the roof and the magnetic key cards were the only way of taking the elevator up there. “Adao’s ten minutes out. You done any helicopter arrivals before?”
She shook her head. Not here anyway. She’d seen more than her fair share before she’d left Zemara, but usually those helicopters had been filled with rebels wielding machine guns. Not charity workers with patients about to undergo life-altering surgery.
“Right.” Finn pulled a crumpled bit of notepaper out of his pocket. “Adao’s seven years old, suffering from—”
“Multiple injuries as a result of a landmine explosion,” Naomi cut in. She’d read the case. Memorized it. It had all but scored itself straight into her heart if the truth be told, but that wasn’t what this showdown was about. She kept on talking as the elevator doors opened and the hit of wintry air all but took her breath away. “Adao’s injuries include loss of his right arm. Efforts have been made to keep infection to a minimum, but our goal is to ensure he retains as much use of his shoulder as possible so that any use of a pros—’ She stopped, her eyes clashing with Finn’s—Mr. Morgan’s—as he wheeled on her.
“Fine. Good. I see you’re up on the case. How’s about we have a bit of quiet time before the chaos begins, yeah?”
Naomi nodded and looked away, forcing herself to focus on the crisp, starlit sky above them.
No problem.
She’d obviously seen far more than Finn—Mr. Morgan—had wanted her to. An incredibly private moment for a man who clearly didn’t do vulnerability.
Vulnerability and strength were two of the reasons she’d chosen to work at Hope. Most of the children here were going through something frightening. Loss of a limb. Surgery. Illnesses that meant they would be facing a future that would present hurdle after hurdle. And despite all the pain and all the suffering, the bulk of the children confronted their futures with a courage that amazed her on a daily basis. If she could be a part of making their future something to actually look forward to, then she was going to give it her all.
She tipped her head up and let the wind skid across her features as she sought out the Milky Way. The night was so clear she spotted it almost instantly. She was constantly amazed by the band of light made up of so many stars, so faraway, they were indistinguishable to the naked eye. In Zemara, they called the spiral galaxy they were such a small part of, the Path of Spirits. This was where her family must be now…far above her…looking down…
A rippling of goose-pimples shot across her arms, but it wasn’t the cold that had instigated them.
Guilt had a lot to answer for. Here she was at one end of the galaxy while her family were…only heaven knew where. It wasn’t fair.
“Look.” Finn’s rich voice broke through the thick silence. “Over there.”
She turned and followed the line of his arm and saw the helicopter emerging from the darkness.

Readers should read this book….

…because it’s part of a great series, the hero is absolutely fabulous. The heroine has a heart so big there’s room enough for everyone to climb inside. I love this book. Everything about it. The Christmas, the snow, the patients, the hero and heroine…the pat dog, the canteen, the other doctors. I could go on. It’s fab! Dive on in!

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I am just starting a stand alone Harlequin set in a beautiful little village in England. I have also just finished the first draft for a longer book I’ve been writing under a different name. That’s not out until next year, so…I’ll keep quiet about it until we’re closer to publication date!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I have FOUR delicious books to give away!

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Excerpt from The Army Doc’s Christmas Angel:

“DID YOU MANAGE to get some sleep?” Finn looked over at Adao’s case worker from the charity when all he elicited from the little boy was an uncertain mini-shrug.
“He slept a little.” She gave the boy’s creased forehead a soothing stroke with the backs of her fingers before crossing to him and holding out a sheaf of paperwork. “I’m Sarah Browning, by the way. I’m afraid we’re short-staffed and I’ve got to get a move on.” Her features creased apologetically.
Finn nodded and took the paperwork. “Not a problem. We’ve got plenty of folk who are looking forward to spending time with this little guy. Myself included.” He looked over at Adao for any sign of emotional response.
Nothing.
Hardly surprising considering what he’d been through. It was a shame the charity’s financial reach couldn’t have extended to bringing at least one of the family members over. Then again…from what he’d read prior to the boy’s arrival, both the mum and dad worked and his teenage sister was still in school, so…not easy to uproot an entire family.
He slapped the papers against his thigh. Too loudly, from the sharp look the charity worker sent him.
“Right.” Finn gave Sarah his best stab at a smile. “Looks like you need to get a move on and I need to assess Adao before we get him into surgery this afternoon.”
He went to the doorway and called to the small team of doctors and nurses who would be in surgery with him. “Righto, mateys. Let’s get a move on, shall we?” A twinge of déjà vu hit him as the team moved toward the door as one solid mass. Naomi had been right. Too many people standing around Adao might render the kid less responsive than he already was.
“Hey, mate.” He looked Adao in the eye. “We’ve got a bunch of people who are going to come in, but they’re all here to help you, yeah? We’re all on your side.”
The little boy pursed his lips and then nodded. He understood. He didn’t like it. But it wasn’t exactly as if he was in a position to argue.
Finn’s heart went out to the little man, but he needed to keep his cool. Clean, clear precision was what was required when he stepped into surgery today. Anything less wasn’t acceptable.
Finn went out into the corridor as the team crowded into the smallish room to hear the details of Adao’s case and help set up a battle plan for the afternoon’s surgery.
Battle plan.
The cruel irony of it…
He heard a laugh and his eyes snapped to the nurses’ station. The hairs on his arms prickled to attention and a deep punch of heat rocket-launched itself exactly where it didn’t belong.
Dammit.
Last night’s gym session clearly hadn’t drilled his body’s organic response to her out of his system.
Who knew a woman’s scent could linger in the physio gym hours after she’d left the hospital?
He did, that’s who. He didn’t know if she wore perfume or body spray or what…he just knew that jasmine and vanilla were forever lost to him as plain old smells now.
“Mr. Morgan? I was wondering if I could have a quick word.”
“Yes?” Grabbing his work tablet from the counter, he looked back up at her then instantly regretted it. Those dark, almond-shaped eyes of hers were blinking away his brusque greeting as her hands rose to tug on each of her loosely woven, below-the-shoulder plaits.
They made her look fun.
And sexy as hell.
“Hi. Um…hello.” Naomi stepped behind the high counter of the nurses’ station, putting a physical buffer between them.
So she felt it too. Or was avoiding the “back off” daggers he was sending her way.
Fair enough. He’d hardly been Prince Charming last night. Or the day before that. Or…yup. Patterns. He saw it, but she messed with his focus and he didn’t like his highly honed “this way trouble lies” vibes being messed with.
“What is it? I’ve got the team waiting for the pre-surgery assessment.”
“I…um…” Something flickered in those dark brown eyes of hers. Had he ever noticed they were flecked with gold?
Yeah. Just like she’d probably noticed his eyes were flecked with amber when the sun hit them. Not. Can it, Romeo. Those days are over.
“You coming in to listen or is the idea to break up the assessment mid-flow with more of your touchy-feely stuff?”
Why are you being such an ass?
Naomi’s dark irises flashed with disbelief at his narky question. Even the ward sister shot him a sharp look. Great. Just what he needed. More fodder for the nurses to continue the tar-and-feather job they no doubt had begun in the break room.
And it was deserved.
All of it.
If Naomi turned on her heel and marched straight up to HR to report him, he wouldn’t blame her.
He was at war with himself and no one was coming out the victor. His body wanted one thing, his head wanted another. His heart was being yanked from side to side and therein lay the crux of the matter.
Good thing he didn’t do feelings. Or poetry, for that matter. Ode to a smashed-up, battered heart didn’t have much of a ring to it.
To his surprise, and the charge nurse’s, Naomi shook her head and gave him a gentle smile. “No, no. Please. Go ahead. I’m here to listen.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Fine.” Then he turned and walked into Adao’s room.
*
“Looks like someone’s gunning for a lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas.”
Naomi willed herself to smile back at Amanda, the charge nurse, who always ready with a quip. She could tell from Amanda’s expression it looked as forced as it felt. It appeared all she needed to do to rile Finn Morgan was exist!
“Don’t let him get to you, Naomi.” Amanda gave her shoulders a quick squeeze as she handed her a mini gingerbread man. “We all bank on you and your sunny smile to keep us cheery, so don’t give him the satisfaction of taking it away.”
Naomi blinked in surprise.
“Don’t look so shocked. We’re all in awe of your energy.”
“My energy?”
“Of course. Who else around here runs up the stairs after running to work and running round with patients all day. Just watching you is exhausting! We all call you the Fizzy Physio.” Amanda laughed then leaned in close after giving a swift conspiratorial look around the reception area. “He’s all grizzly on the outside and perfectionist on the inside. We’ve all decided there’s a bit of gold in there somewhere but someone has yet to unearth it.”
“Unearth it how?”
“The usual way.” She performed a teensy sexy dance. “Romance.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Can she help him let go of his past? In this Hope Chidren’s Hospital story, paediatrician Dr Finn Morgan’s pushed everyone away since losing his leg in Afghanistan. Might he find the healing he’s been looking for in the arms of stunning colleague Naomi?
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Meet the Author:

Annie spent most of her childhood with a leg draped over the family rocking chair and a book in her hand. Novels, baking and writing too much teenage angst poetry ate up most of her youth. Now, Annie splits her time between corralling her husband into helping her with their cows or scratching the backs of their rare breed pigs and spending some very happy hours at her computer writing.
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