Canadian Doctor: Midlife Crisis Contemporary Romance, #7

By Rose Bak

A type-A American, a laid-back Canadian, and two doctors fighting for the same position. What could go wrong?

 

The small rural town of Elizabeth might not be the most advanced place in British Columbia, but it's definitely one of the most interesting. Founded by hippies, most residents proudly live off the grid. But as the population ages and young people move away, the town is left without a doctor.

 

When Doctor Elizabeth Shirley hears about a program that will help pay off her medical school loans if she works in a rural clinic, she heads to Canada as part of a doctor exchange program. She has the same name as the town, which her mother tells her is a lucky sign. Sure, Canada is a long way from San Francisco, but surely living there isn't that different, right?

 

Doctor Garrett McKeon's grandmother has been begging him to move to Elizabeth for years. When she offers him the chance to manage the town clinic right after his divorce is finalized, he decides to finally make a change. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, there's another doctor there who thinks she's the one in charge of the clinic. Worse yet – she's an American.

 

With neither one of them willing to leave, they have no choice but to work together -- or kill each other, whichever comes first. When the residents decide to play matchmaker with the two new doctors, things get a little more complicated. Suddenly those late nights at the office aren't just for lab work…

"Canadian Doctor" is a midlife, opposites attract, fish-out-of-water romance. This steamy story includes a quirky off-grid small town, two rival doctors fighting their attraction, and a sweet happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rose Bak
• Release date: Oct 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224375585

Rose Bak

Rose Bak has been obsessed with books since she got her first library card at age five. She is a passionate reader with an e-reader bursting with thousands of beloved books.  Rose's contemporary romance books focus on strong female characters over age 35 and the alpha males who love them. Expect a lot of steam, a little bit of snark, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

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Copyright

CANADIAN DOCTOR

© 2023 by Rose Bak 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system in any form by any means without express permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact the publisher at [e-mail].

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, organizations, or locals is entirely coincidental. Trademark names are used editorially with no infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.  All activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related. 

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About This Book

A type-A American, a laid-back Canadian, and two doctors fighting for the same position. What could go wrong?

The small rural town of Elizabeth might not be the most advanced place in British Columbia, but it’s definitely one of the most interesting. Founded by hippies, most residents proudly live off the grid. But as the population ages and young people move away, the town is left without a doctor.

When Doctor Elizabeth Shirley hears about a program that will help pay off her medical school loans if she works in a rural clinic, she heads to Canada as part of a doctor exchange program. She has the same name as the town, which her mother tells her is a lucky sign. Sure, Canada is a long way from San Francisco, but surely living there isn’t that different, right?

Doctor Garrett McKeon’s grandmother has been begging him to move to Elizabeth for years. When she offers him the chance to manage the town clinic right after his divorce is finalized, he decides to finally make a change. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, there’s another doctor there who thinks she’s the one in charge of the clinic. Worse yet – she’s an American.

With neither one of them willing to leave, they have no choice but to work together—or kill each other, whichever comes first. When the residents decide to play matchmaker with the two new doctors, things get a little more complicated. Suddenly those late nights at the office aren’t just for lab work...

Canadian Doctor is a midlife, opposites attract, fish-out-of-water romance. This steamy story includes a quirky off-grid small town, two rival doctors fighting their attraction, and a sweet happily ever after.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to the lovely folks on Lasqueti Island, British Columbia.  I spent a wonderful vacation on this off-grid island many, many years ago wandering around in nature, using alternative energy sources, eating vegetarian food and listening to music.  When it was time to write a story about a small town in Canada, I knew I had to squeeze in a little hint of Lasqueti Island.

Prologue – Elizabeth

What do you mean you’re moving to Canada?  You don’t even like snow!

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at my father. After all, I was a board-certified emergency medicine doctor, not a teenager. Although it was hard not to revert to my youthful ways under the heavy weight of his disapproval.

The fact was, I was a constant disappointment to my father.  First, I hadn’t been born a boy.  Then, instead of going into the lucrative world of plastic surgery like he’d wanted me to, I’d chosen to work in an inner-city emergency room. Worst yet, I hadn’t managed to ‘snag a suitable husband’ – his words not mine – and give him a grandchild to brag about either.

The funny thing was that other than my father, most people thought I was a type-A overachiever. I’d skipped a grade in elementary school, completed my undergrad in three years instead of four, and already had more medical certifications than most of the people I’d graduated with from medical school. 

But my being an overachiever didn’t count if I didn’t achieve what my father thought was important.

It’s an interesting program, honey, my mother explained to my father.  They’re going to pay off all her medical school loans if she works for two years in a rural area where there’s a shortage of doctors.

I’d shared some information about the program when I’d broken the news to her that I was moving.  She didn’t like it, but she’d been more supportive than I’d been expecting.  We’d mutually agreed to wait and break the news to my father at the last possible moment so he wouldn’t try to sabotage me.

She wouldn’t have any medical school debt if she hadn’t been so damned stubborn, my father reminded us.

That was another thing that annoyed my father.  I’d insisted on paying my own way through school instead of taking his money. We both knew his money would have come with strings, and in my estimation, taking out a buttload of loans was the lesser evil to get my education paid for.

It’s the cutest little town, and it’s also called Elizabeth. That must be a sign.

My father made a face. He and my mother were opposites in many ways.  Where my father was harsh and uber conservative, my mother was more liberal and polite.  She was a bit of a ditz, worried mostly about clothes and fashion and people’s weight, in stark contrast to my father who was highly intellectual and worried about things like stock portfolios and golf. 

If you went into their bedroom, my father had his nightstand stacked with books about history and science, and maybe a few medical journals, while Mom’s nightstand held fashion magazines. It was a testament to how much they loved each other that they were still together, and happily so.  A few weeks ago, I’d stopped by to drop something off for my mother and found them canoodling on the couch. I still had nightmares about that.

How do you know it’s cute, Danielle?  You’ve never even been to Canada.

My father said the word ‘Canada’ like it was a third-world country that no one in their right mind would visit, let alone live in.  He was firmly of the belief that the United States and Western Europe were the only ‘decent’ countries, and even Europe was a little bit sketchy.

There’s this thing called the internet, Bob.  I took a video tour.  The town was founded by a group of hippies who emigrated to Canada in protest of the Vietnam War.  It’s the greenest town in Canada, using solar and wind power almost exclusively.

My father sighed deeply.  How is she supposed to practice medicine without electricity?

They have electricity honey, it’s just mostly generated naturally.

My eyes bounced back and forth between my parents, content to let my mother do my arguing for me. It didn’t matter what my father thought, I’d signed a contract and was moving to Canada in a couple of days.

The truth was that after twelve years working in the emergency department, first as a resident then as an attending physician, I was tired.  I enjoyed the work, but now that I was in my forties I longed for a regular schedule.  Doing overnight shifts, being on my feet for twelve or more hours at a time and dealing with the violence and trauma of an inner-city hospital had all worn me down. I was ready for a slower pace.  I was also ready to stop making student loan payments.

It was a total fluke that I’d even heard about this opportunity. Some people would say it was fate.  I’d been thumbing through a magazine