A Thorn in My Heart: Book 1 Blackhawk MC Trilogy: MC Bad Boy Series, #1

By Annica Fariss

Esther has always prided herself on being rational, calm, and analytic; after all, they're the traits that make her the best in the psychiatry business. However, new patient Gabriel Thorne is about to turn everything she thought she knew about herself on its head. Can Esther overcome her feelings, give him an honest diagnosis, and let him go? Or will he stay underneath her skin and ignite a forgotten passion into a burning flame?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annica Fariss
• Release date: Jul 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513007946

Book preview

Monday. The beginning of her week.

As she rolled out of bed, Esther glanced at the clock, though she really had no need. She was up like clockwork, every day, at exactly 6:30. It was a habit long instilled in her by years of being in the office by eight. In an hour and a half, she could comfortably do everything she needed to before having a leisurely drive into work.

At her feet, Yancy, her English bulldog, immediately sat up, his stub of a tail wagging fiercely. While she had no significant other, the enthusiastic canine was one of the great loves of her life. Grinning, she leaned down to scratch his ears in the way she knew he liked. When she padded over the plush carpet to the bathroom, the loyal hound followed her, settling to wait outside until she was finished.

As she showered, she mused over the patients on that day's schedule.

There was Marvin, CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation who still feared monsters under his bed; Layla, a stay at home mom of four who was trying to work her way up to telling her husband she wasn't sure she had ever liked men; Dimitri, the owner of an independent grocery that was being privately funded by his mob boss son, and a newbie.

On any given day, Dr. Esther Brand had to deal with a number of issues that comprised the human condition. When she was faced in medical school with the decision about what field to enter, she chose psychiatry because, truthfully, she couldn't stand the sight of blood. That, and the fact that she found the human psyche utterly fascinating.

Ever since she was a little girl, she’d sought out medical journals and pored over cases revolving around the human mind. She'd been a prodigy from an early age, and rather than discourage her somewhat strange tastes in reading materials, her parents had fostered her curiosity. By the age of eleven, she’d already finished middle school, and she graduated high school a full two years early.

In medical school, however, she lingered. There, she'd found a plethora of knowledge to scratch her curious itch. How on earth could she abandon the vast library and materials there before she was truly ready? After her undergraduate degree – which she’d earned in a mere two years – Esther immediately dived into her medical program with great gusto. She quickly