After being turned down for his dream job, Evan needs to reassess his future as he returns home for his brother’s wedding. Taking a chance, he asks Dr. Denver Sinclair to accompany him as his date. He never expects her to say yes, so he is surprised when she agrees. After all, he’s been trying to get her to go out with him for the last two years with no luck.

But brilliant ambitious Denver has an agenda. Her main goal in life is to prove her father wrong–she is perfectly capable of running a hospital without his connections or assistance. But to take up the reins as the administrator of Marietta Hospital, she must have community roots or marry a local. When Evan lets slip he’s from Marietta, her goal is within reach. Seducing Evan is easy. She just didn’t anticipate marriage to the small town doctor would ever involve her heart.

Will Denver and Evan find love in the most unexpected place–with each other?

Titles in The Watson Brothers series include: Chance For Love – The Sheriff’s Mail Order Bride – The Doctor’s Husband –

Title:  The Doctor’s Husband
Series:  The Watson Brothers #3
Author:  Ann B. Harrison
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  April 20, 2017
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars

The Doctor’s Husband is a good story, with strong characters and an interesting premise.  It’s unfortunate, for me, that I did not, could not connect with Denver until almost the last two chapters.  She is perhaps the product of her upbringing, her father’s outdated – living in the 1930’s- attitude toward women and her own ambition along with her desire to prove her father wrong.  Try as I might, I simply could not get past her decision to play with someone else’s life, love and needs to further her own agenda.  The average woman does not look at a man who has an obvious attraction to her and say… “ya know, this guy lives in the town where I want a top level hospital position but need a local connection – think I’ll use him to get the job.”  No, just no.  I was faced with something huge about a character that I simply could not get past or easily forgive.  So my view of Denver was tainted from the very beginning of this story.

Now, on the other hand, Evan is everything a patient wants in a doctor and a woman would love to find in a husband.  A caring, straight shooter who doesn’t play the games of life but lives it fully and honestly.  His desire to return home to Marietta and put the big city hospital shenanigans behind him is obvious.  His attraction to Denver and his falling in love with her is equally obvious.  He deserved so much more than he got.  The absolute villain in this story is Denver’s father.  He is an oblivious, nasty man that you will actually enjoy loathing.

The Doctor’s Husband is an… intriguing story.  While admittedly I could not connect with Denver, it was interesting to watch her change over the course of the story from a woman with no thoughts but her own agenda to a slowly changing woman working to save her marriage for, finally, the right reasons.  This story is definitely worth your time, yet it is not a sweet, easy romance.  Evan and Denver face almost insurmountable challenges to find a happy ending.  It will be interesting to get glimpses of their life together as the series continues.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Available for the Kindle