This cover is so gorgeous. It's no wonder it is all over Bookstagram! While it was definitely what caught my eye, I was intrigued to read a book where the focus is on the friendship of two women...and to take it up a notch, two women doctors. I loved the banter and interactions between the two of them. Their dialogue was modern and realistic. My problem was that I kept getting the two women confused! I had to constantly stop and think "which one is this?" "Is she the trauma surgeon or the heart specialist?" "Who are her kids and husband?" I couldn't keep them separated.

I have always been interested in novels about medicine and the medical profession since I spent my career as a pediatric nurse in a hospital and office environment. Queen of Hearts is funny, dramatic and filled with memories that both main characters want to forget.

Emma and Zadie have been inseparable since before college and into medical school. Emma is a trauma surgeon and Zadie is a pediatric cardiologist. Both happily married with kids, living and working in Charlotte, North Carolina. Zadie’s life is often chaotic, four kids.....boy twins, a pre teen girl and a darling three year old Delaney who pretty much steals the show! Drew, her husband travels a lot for business, so she is often juggling a lot of balls in the air. Emma and her husband Wyatt have one child Henry. They have an interracial marriage, and are often called Beauty and the Beast. Emma is tall, statuesque and looks like a model. Wyatt is short in stature, often rumpled and forgetful. But he loves Emma and Henry with all his heart.

The story moves from medical school in the late 1990’s to present day, and the particular trauma of their third year. Dr. Xenokostas, Nick, their chief resident plays a big part in this life changing year. Gradually we learn the secrets and lies hidden in their pasts.

I found this book fascinating, very entertaining and amazing for a first novel. Will look for my by this author.

Thank you to Berkeley Publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.
Pat Fordyce

This book started off slow for me but once it got going I couldn't put it down. I loved the mix of friendship, family, and medical drama. While the twist wasn't very surprising to me it was still a well crafted story.

Queen of Hearts is a novel set firmly in the sprit of a world that appears to have endless amounts of intrigue, drama, forbidden romance, and chaos – that of the medical profession. ER’s, intensive care units, clinical trials and lessons given by on-the-job experience have long been sought out by the prying eyes of those less motivated to go the extra mile in their education to become medical doctors or nurses in their own right. It is a profession allocated to a select few; those who devote their lives to others in the pursuit of healing and are forever learning how to better serve and protect in a way that seems wrought with magic. There is something about the interconnected hospital relationships that fascinate viewers and readers – shows like Grey’s Anatomy and ER have been regaling us with tales of romantic interludes and the curious cases of compelling patients for over a decade. Authors like Patricia Cornwell have made their living by schooling readers of the darker side of the profession – with their elaborate tales of medicine woven with the intricacies of premeditated murder. There seems to be an endless abundance of theatrics amongst the doctors and nurses who inhabit the buildings of healing, and Kimmery Martin has added her story to the ever-growing pile of juicy medical dramas.

Chronicling the lives of two best friends in tandem, the story begins in present day North Carolina. Zadie is a mostly happy-go-lucky pediatric cardiologist, content to spend her days listening to the sweet tiny beats of a newborn’s heart and her evenings wrangling her own crazy brood of four children. Her husband travels for work, but it seems to only heighten their time together, as they have the same passion for one another now as they did years ago when they first met. She has it all, living in an affluent area of Charlotte and liked by nearly everyone who meets her, Zadie is a person you can trust.

Between patients and home life, Zadie’s story backtracks to her past as a medical student. As she navigated through the trials and tribulations of attempting to learn how to save a life while being utterly exhausted and at times overwhelmed, she somehow found the time to fall in love – with her chief resident, of course . . . the one man who was strictly forbidden to her while she worked on his service. Dr. X was enigmatic and strikingly handsome; his charm knew no bounds as he steamrolled his way through every female on the hospital floor. Zadie didn’t have much of a chance when it came to losing herself to him, but she didn’t put up much of a fight. He bled into the chambers of her heart with overpowering emotions and heady desire.

But things went sour in the end as immature romances mostly do; mistakes were made and lives were forever altered in ways that leave scars cemented upon the soul. Zadie cannot look back at her time with Dr. X without a shiver going down her spine; she remembers how cruel he could be, how careless he could be with the feelings of others and how cutting he could be with his words. Her only saving grace back then was the close clique of friends she had, the most important of those integral allies being Emma, and Zadie is grateful that years later the two have found their career paths fruitful in the same affluent town.

Emma Colley has always been regarded as a bit of an ice-queen, something that left her a complete juxtaposition to her best friend Zadie. Where Zadie emitted sunshine and flowers, Emma was more rainy days and naked winter trees. Friends since the latter years of their adolescence, the two have an unbreakable bond and an easiness that has sustained itself through the labors of medical school and residencies, and has landed them as both happily married women with families of their own. Emma works as a trauma surgeon, a path that is both compelling and heart-wrenching; a job that is equal parts chaotic and full of grace. The structure of surgery suits her; things tend to work better in Emma’s life when there is order. But when Zadie’s past joins Emma’s present as Dr. X resurfaces as part of her group at the hospital, Emma will be forced to reconcile the biggest mistake of her life. A mistake that took a life instead of saving one. And when a lethal combination of distraction and fate leads to another death on Emma’s watch, she must face her deepest fears and learn how to be honest with the one person in her life who trusts her the most.

Queen of Hearts is the debut novel by mom, physician, and self-proclaimed literary nerd, Kimmery Martin. Earning 4 out of 5 stars from me, it is a well-written novel with appropriate amounts of drama and comic relief. The true unsung star of the show, in my opinion, is Zadie’s precocious daughter Delaney – a resident biter of fellow preschoolers and a young lady eloquently aware of her hilarious choice in words, the little girl is full of the joy that can only encompass those at that age. As a mother myself, I am always appreciative of an author’s fair representation of motherhood and motherhood versus career, and I felt that Martin hit most of those nails on the head. Zadie was the more authentic of the two points of view, and I could commiserate with her on many levels.

A few drawbacks for me – one being how the romance between Dr. X and the women felt a bit hollow. I did not feel the passion that was intended, and the way things were wrapped up at the end felt a little contrived. For Zadie to have “loved” Dr. X as much as she did . . . well, I don’t believe she would have reacted the way she did and let her friend off the hook so easily. The first half of the book made it seem like there was a huge build-up of something; that maybe Dr. X was dangerous or nefarious in the bodily sense, but instead it was just a simple matter of forbidden love that was manipulated out of control. That drama could have been ironed out just a little easier for the reader.

I felt that Emma had many more layers to be explored. Her own story took too long in the telling, and so she got shuffled to the end with a few long pages roughing explaining why she behaved the way she did. She deserved more air-time. While Zadie was the more authentic of the duo, Emma was infinitely more interesting.

All in all, I recommend Queen of Hearts and happily give it 4 out of 5 stars. Readers who enjoyed Jamie Raintree’s Perfectly Undone or Gabrielle Zevin’s Young Jane Young would enjoy this book.

I really liked the concept of this book, and I had a very emotional reaction to most of the plot points. What keeps this book from being excellent is the ending. Emma's reveal was unexpected (usually a good thing), but I wanted more about her reaction to this and especially more about Zadie's reaction to this. Rather than see Zadie dealing with this betrayal, we see things through Emma's eyes as she waits for Zadie to decide how to proceed. Here is where the author could have delved deep into female friendships and given the reader something relatively unique: a deep betrayal by a close friend and how to process that and move forward. Instead, it felt like so much of the time was spent with Emma (which was interesting and gave reasoning for much of her motivation), but felt like a cop out in what would have been some truly spectacular writing and character development for Zadie.

The Queen of Hearts is the story of Zadie and Emma, two friends who have been inseparable since they were teenagers. Now they’re each happily married with children, successful in their careers as doctors, and still as close as ever. But when a figure from their past resurfaces in their lives, a charming surgeon called Nick Xenokostas, the two are forced to confront events from their third year of medical school that they’ve long since put behind them.

My feelings about this book are extremely mixed. I’ve never seen Grey’s Anatomy, but I get the impression that this is basically Grey’s Anatomy in book form – a sort of melodramatic, over the top but engaging medical drama, which relies on entertainment value to compensate for its narrative faults.

My main criticism is how the alternating point of views of Zadie and Emma were written. Neither of them had individual voices, at all – occasionally my mind would wander for a minute, I’d come back to the book and think I was in a Zadie chapter, and then I’d read the sentence “Zadie said to me,” before realizing oops, I was actually in an Emma chapter. That’s not to say that Zadie and Emma were two iterations of the same person – the differences between them are clearly highlighted – they just happened to have the exact same narrative voice. It’s an easy trap to fall into when you have two alternating first-person perspectives, so I wish Kimmery Martin had varied their vocabulary or syntax of speech slightly, especially given the differences in their upbringings.

There was also a lot about Zadie’s character that never quite rang true for me. We’re told so often how charismatic she is, how people naturally gravitate toward her, but none of that charisma is reflected in Zadie’s narration. To me, Zadie always struck me as competent, intelligent, and caring, but none of these things in abundance – she just seemed like a very average sort of person. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It just didn’t quite add up with what we’re told about her.

Emma, on the other hand, I absolutely loved. She too is initially presented as competent and intelligent, but there is so much more going on beneath the surface which is gradually uncovered throughout the course of the story. I thought her narrative arc was brilliant and sad and so realistic – she’s the kind of character who’s so human that you don’t like the bits of yourself that you see reflected in her. That was extremely well done.

I think I’m going to have to go with 3 stars, though… I did quite like this overall – it was a quick, entertaining, and at times emotional read – but the occasionally sophomoric writing and amateur construction of Zadie’s character dragged it down for me. (Not to mention the way Zadie’s three-year-old daughter talked… god, I have never encountered a more annoying toddler either in real life or in literature.) I would recommend it though, especially if you’re interested in stories which examine female friendships.

One last note – this book is very heavy on the medical side of the medical drama, so if you can’t stomach graphic descriptions of medical procedures, this is definitely not the book for you.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley, and Kimmery Martin for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Not sure what I was expecting, but I am certainly glad I read this one. It is a great blend of romance, medical drama, true friendship, marriage and family. There's sadness, happiness, tragedy and humor altogether. The main character, Zadie, is someone I would want to be my friend. I loved this book and hope Kimmery Martin writes more. Well done!!

4.5 stars! This book is a rollercoaster of emotions. I experienced everything from joy, dismay, relief, anger, delight, and more while reading The Queen of Hearts. The characters are all dynamic and so real, as is the drama. All of the medical bits are fascinating to me - I can almost picture this entire book as a long, sweeping season of Grey’s Anatomy (this is a good thing!) My favorite character is definitely Delaney - she, and her saying, are so unique and delightful.

~ I received an this book in exchange for my honest opinions, and they are all my own.

This just wasn't what I was expecting. I wanted a light and fluffy romance, but this just had way too many hospital descriptions and I just didn't care.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All Opinions are my Own.
Greys Anatomy, The Resident, The Good Doctor…..and now the Queen of Hearts! I love all hospital and medical shows on television, and this book was a perfect tie-in to feed my addiction. There are no other books or storylines with two female doctors as the main characters, and I absolutely loved the back and forth perspectives between them and in time.
The development of Zadie and Emma through medical school sucked me in from the start. The trials and learnings of the long work days, medical errors, and loss of patients and friends filled out the backstory, and the current day storyline was even better.
I wanted the story to continue a couple more chapters to elaborate on the ending a bit more, but it was a satisfying closing to a great book. If you love medical dramas, definitely give this one a try!

Oh sooo good!! 4.5 Stars...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes a book just hits you right. Touches all of your senses and emotions and maybe even shocks you a bit.

When I started reading The Queen of Hearts, I was expecting just a women’s fiction. But this book is so much more.

The Queen of Hearts is written by a brand new author with a medical background. She tells a story set in and around the emergency room and medical environment. It’s the story of two best friends and their career through the ups and downs of medical school and through their adult career.

This book is very well written and so good! The flow and the story was unique and so all encompassing that I just got caught up in it. The author managed to throw me for a loop several times and I just couldn't stop reading even though I was angry at times.

The plot mainly revolves around two best friends that support each other and are there for each other, through thick and thin.

And then there was Dr. X.... A yummy, delicious, hunk of a man who finds himself involved with one of the girls. Super sexy and a risk taker, he has Zadie falling for him fast and honestly, who can resist?

I absolutely loved the story. The author offered a fabulous plot with several of twists in the story and some unbelievable revelations that broadsided me. I was still really angry at the end of the story and still think about it today. But then that is the mark of an excellent writer.

If you enjoy medical stories, with the gritty, gruesome details, along with a doctors life, love, and everything that comes with it, you have to read this book. A wonderful first from a new author. I hope we will be seeing more of Kimmery Martin in the future.

A wonderful medical drama! I enjoyed The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin very much. This book is a great story of friendship, family and the enormous responsibility as well as the grind of doctors' lives. A great balance of seriousness and entertainment, this book was a fast and enjoyable read. I would like to thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advanced reading copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Written by a doctor, this medical novel tells weaves the grueling demands of medical school with the drama of relationships, and secrets of mistakes made in the emergency rooms. An unwelcome blast from the past in the form of a supervising doctor who returns to two friends' hometown and begins working in the same medical facilities threatens the girls' relationships with each other and those around them, and ultimately their happiness. Martin explores perspectives of situations and how everyone's judgements, preconceived notions, and past experiences shade and shape reality. Stunning debut - I will be looking for more from this author!

Imagine reading several episodes of Grey's Anatomy and you will get the idea of this book. It is a fast paced book that tells the story of two friends in med school and present day. It is an intriguing story line that ending many chapters with a cliff hanger that made me want to keep reading. It was interesting to read that the author is a doctor which lends a level of credibility to the story.

What an awesome book! Zadie and Emma have been best friends for years. Now both are married with children. I love their friendship! I love how the story is told by both Zadie and Emma and in real time and the past. The reader gets to know the entire story from both points of view. My favorite character was Zadie's youngest Delaney. She is quite a funny little girl and stole every part of the book she is in. It is a fast paced book which I read in one sitting. I received and advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Berkley. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the plot and for the most part I enjoyed the characters but I didn't love it. There was just something right outside of my grasp that kept me from loving this book. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of wonderful parts to this book that outweigh the few things that I didn't like so yes I would still very enthusiastically encourage you to pre order this book so it'll be waiting for you on release day. Oh and stock up on the Kleenex because there are a few parts that will have you sniffling. Happy reading!

This is the story of Zadie and Emma who met at a science camp and later became college and medical school roommates. Zadie and Emma are best friends, but one of them has a secret that could destroy years of friendship. Follow along as the secret is revealed by alternating narratives and times frames.
I really enjoyed the storyline of this book, especially the medical portion; the stories of the patients that Zadie and Emma took care of. In a couple scenes, I definitely got a Grey's Anatomy feel, which in my opinion is a good thing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes books about female relationships with a twist or medical dramas.
I have to mention that I loved Zadie's 3-year old daughter, Delaney! I laughed out loud when Delaney gets suspended from preschool. I loved how she called her mom "beloved dear" when she walked into the director's office and called the director and her assistant "honey dears"!
I received an advanced review copy of this book; all opinions are my own.

My Review of “The Queen of Hearts” by Kimmery Martin

Kudos to Kimmery Martin, Author of “The Queen of Hearts” for writing a debut novel that is engaging and entertaining. The Genres for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction. Kimmery Martin weaves the setting her story and her colorful cast of characters into an intriguing novel. The story takes place as several friends are students in medical school and follows these same characters to present day, married with children. The setting is the hospital where life and death decisions are made, and where there are cheers and tears. In this hectic and traumatic setting, we see the emotional relationships among the staff and friends.

The author describes her characters as complex and complicated as the circumstances dictate. In present time we see two of the physicians, Zadie, a pediatric cardiologist, and Emma, a trauma surgeon, as they deal with the crisisses in the hospital and in their personal lives. They both are married and have children. Everything seems fine, until suddenly it isn’t.

A former Chief of Staff from years ago, Nick has transferred to the hospital in North Carolina, and become part of the staff. Nick holds the key to past dark secrets, and betrayals, that can destroy friendships. He also brings up memories of a tragedy that occurred when all of them were at the hospital.

I would highly recommend this captivating and emotional story for those readers that enjoy Women’s Fiction. I received an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

Sharp, funny, and poignant by turns, Martin's debut is a medical drama with -- dare I say it? -- real heart. I appreciated that the primary relationship in the book is the friendship between Zadie and Emma, not any of their romantic relationships. It's a rare thing for a book to foreground friendship, particularly when romance is also on the table, and I think Martin makes a wise choice with her POV characters. Martin also has an excellent ear for dialogue. Her characters speak in ways that feel very real -- so much so that some of the hospital incidents are surely taken straight from real life, or taken with very little modification, based on Martin's own experiences as a doctor.

I really enjoyed this book! The cover was absolutely gorgeous. I love how the narrative switched between present day and in the past working up to the reveal. Great debut novel!