Series: Mercy, Inc. (Book 3)
Hunter Phillips has to look after his baby niece for a
month and is completely out of his depth! As if that weren't enough, he also
finds himself working with his ex-fiancée, Amanda - the woman who left him when
he told her he never wanted children.
Amanda Dunlap is on a mission to help people stay well.
She's created curriculum for The Mending Hearts Club and is ready to test out
her program on the first twenty candidates. When her mentor must back out last
minute, she depends on Mercy, Inc. Admin to send a substitute. Only because she
is out to prove herself to hospital administration, her parents, and the world,
does she accept the man who broke her heart as the replacement.
Hunter is still fiercely attracted to Amanda, and she's
amazing with baby Sophie. As they pretend to play at happy family, Hunter
begins to realize that winning Amanda Back and having a family for real is what
he wants most of all. All he has to do is convince Amanda.
Good second chance story. Three years earlier, Hunter and
Mandy were engaged. Both were career-oriented and didn't plan to have children.
But when Mandy thought she was pregnant, she realized that she did want
children after all. When the two could not agree, they parted ways, both
broken-hearted.
Now Mandy is a nurse practitioner on a mission. She
created a wellness curriculum for heart patients and is ready to start the
program. Unfortunately, she loses her mentor and has to depend on the hospital
to provide a substitute. She is surprised when Hunter walked into the classroom
and shocked to see him with a baby.
I liked both Hunter and Mandy. Each of them had issues
that contributed to their problems. Hunter's background of growing up with
parents who were emotionally distant made him unwilling to have children of his
own. He is sure that he would be unable to give them what they need, so he will
avoid the issue entirely. But when his sister, Jade, has to spend an extended
time in the hospital, he steps up to care for his niece, Sophie. Mandy's parents
were just the opposite. Because of her childhood health issues, they were
overprotective and smothering. They also showed no confidence that she could
achieve her dreams. As a result, Mandy pushes herself extra hard to prove that
she can do it.
I liked the development of the relationship between
Hunter and Mandy. At first, they were very uncomfortable around each other because
of their history. Each felt that the other betrayed their love. Now that they
are thrown together every day, both of them find that some of their old
feelings begin to stir again. When Mandy invites Hunter and Sophie to stay with
her during the six weeks of the program, both of them vow to protect their
hearts. Neither one counted on the effect of sharing the care of little Sophie.
Even though Hunter is certain he'd be a terrible father, it is evident to Mandy
that he has all the right instincts. The problem is getting him to see it. There
were some adorable scenes of Hunter and Sophie together, and I loved watching
the three of them become a family of sorts.
Some trust issues exist between Hunter and Mandy. It
takes a long time for her to get Hunter to open up about his life with his
parents. She understands him a little better once he does. Mandy has some trust
problems herself. She suffers from a heart ailment that she hasn't told Hunter
about. She feels guilty about it but doesn't want him to start treating her as
fragile, the way her parents do. Just as she makes up her mind to tell him, the
decision is taken out of her hands. Hunter is left feeling betrayed by her lack
of trust in him, and Mandy is heartbroken when he leaves her again. Both of
them had to look hard at what they want from their lives before they can think
of a future together. I loved the ending and seeing them both realize that with
love, anything is possible.
This was an advance copy and had one problem that I hope
was fixed before the book went to print. The author couldn't seem to decide if
Hunter and Mandy had only been engaged or if they were divorced. In one place, Hunter refers to himself as her
parents' "almost son-in-law," but on the next page identifies himself
as Mandy's ex-husband. This happened multiple times during the book and threw
me out of the story each time.
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