What the Doctor Ordered

by Janette Rallison

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One determined matchmaker, two stubborn hearts, and a town full of people ready to place bets

Ellie had one goal for the summer, and falling in love wasn’t it. She only agreed to spend a few months in Colton, Idaho, to prove to her parents that her Aunt Bertie doesn’t need to be shipped off to a nursing home. Ellie plans to convince Aunt Bertie’s doctor to give her a clean bill of health, then hightail it to her dream broadcasting internship.

There’s just one problem—Dr. John Flynn.

Arrogant, infuriating, far too good-looking for his own good, and—unfortunately—the one man standing in her way.

What's worse, Aunt Bertie is convinced he’s Ellie’s soulmate. Yeah, Ellie is pretty positive her real soulmate wouldn’t be so full of himself.

When it looks like Dr. Flynn might take her parents’ side, Ellie is ready to declare all-out war. She just wasn’t counting on Aunt Bertie’s not-so-subtle matchmaking attempts…or the inconvenient sparks flying between her and the enemy.

Because man, the guy can kiss.

Now, it’s not just Aunt Bertie’s future on the line—Ellie’s heart might be in trouble, too.

This small-town sweet romantic comedy has plenty of heart and lots of laughs. If you love an enemies-to-lovers romance with witty banter or have ever thought that the doctors on Gray's Anatomy were hot...or the ones on House... or General Hospital...(Why are real doctors never this handsome?) snatch up this romcom today!

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Book Details

Genre

Romantic Comedy

Subgenre

Christian, Medical, Small Town

Audience

Adult

Bell Peppers

🫑

Profanity

1 None

Violence

1 None

Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco

1 None

Publication Date

January 1, 2004

Language Versions

English

Narration Type

Human

Fiction Form

Novel

Sensitive Themes

Chronic or terminal illness, Grief or loss of a loved one, Medical procedures/hospitalization, Miscarriage or infertility, Unwed pregnancy

Editorial Reviews

A definite five. Funny and heartwarming—Verified Amazon review

Even reading it again, probably for the third or fourth time, I couldn’t put it down!—Verified Amazon review

My gosh, I laughed so hard—Verified Amazon review

Recommended for fans of the author

I like the author so I try to read every book of hers that I can get. This is recommended for fans of the author.

A definite five. Funny and heartwarming

Ellie agrees to go stay with her Aunt Bertie when her parents start threatening to send her to a nursing home.She is Ellie's favorite Aunt. She feels she doesn't fit in to her family with parents who constantly criticise her and a sister who snipes and puts her down. Aunt Bertie is quirky but that helps her understand Allie.When she arrives her aunt is in a wheel chair to meet her at the airport and gives little information about her injury and refuses to see a doctor. To top that off she keeps talking about a doctor at her church she wants her to meet because they are going to be married. Ellie tries to discourage her but Bertie gets her a job at her mothers resort to ensure they meet then spreads gossip to her friends. Once the small town snowball starts rolling down hill there is no stopping and no matter how many times she and John deny they are in a relationship no one believes them.Her aunt's antics are funny from the Christmas Tree in her living room in May to her list of 100 reasons not to clean. She persists in believing Allie and John will get together You have to love her even knowing you would not want to be put in that position. Allie's attempts to get her to proper medical care are all in vain since she continues to refuse. The resolution at the end is unexpected, sweet and touched my heart.I enjoyed this and I hope you will too.

Errors in Communication lead to Comedy

Ellie’s favorite aunt needs some help for the summer, and Ellie gets volunteered by her family to go help her, in spite of Ellie having made other plans for the summer related to her schooling and career. It is easy to see why Aunt Bertie is Ellie’s favorite person because Aunt Bertie is so quirky and a lot of fun. Ellie and Dr. John Flynn get off to a rocky start because of John’s past experiences with his previous wife. Ellie and John’s relationship goes from bad to worse because of differences of opinion on Ellie’s aunt and John’s sister. I wanted to shake Ellie a few times for making poor choices, but her choices were based on inadequate knowledge and a sense of feeling overprotective towards others she felt were being misjudged. Eventually, problems come to light and solutions found. I liked how John found ways to get around Ellie’s mislaid plans and his determination to get to the bottom of the problems without causing too much embarrassment to anyone or to go against his privileges as a doctor. I liked Ellie’s fun loving and helpful personality, although I did get frustrated with several of her choices. I couldn’t help laughing at all the misconceptions and miscommunications.

review

This book had promise; I really like most of Sierra St. James' other books.But - holy crap - dnf because I could bear to have Aunt Bertie talk non-stop about Ellie and John's upcoming wedding (before they met). It was trying to be funny, trying to be cute, but really fell short of the mark.

Funny

I liked that the book was actually funny. I laughed several times, resulting in my getting strange looks from other people in the room with me.Yes, the story was sweet, too. The hero had a tragic past, and the heroine felt like life was just passing her by. There's an instant attraction of opposites and a number of misunderstandings. That is all to be expected in such stories, no?I like a story to have characters we care about other than the hero and heroine. For this story, that person is the heroine's aunt. (OK, maybe the hero's sister, too, but she doesn't have as big a presence as Aunt Bertie.)When we first meet her, the aunt reminds me forcibly of a matchmaking mom/grandma character out of books by Whitney Dineen or Rich Amooi. (BTW, this is not a bad thing; I really like those books.) That's not her only characteristic, though, which makes the story more interesting to read. I don't want to say too much.I really enjoyed this.