Y'all, my reading mojo has been in the toilet for well over a month now. I'm getting TBR Challenge books read and I've gotten through an audiobook, but I'm not reading. Why? Fatigue, not having the spoons, torn with indecisiveness of what to read next - I mean, it's a lot of things. But I miss reading and I need to kick start my mojo somehow, so I thought a category romance might be in order. When I find a decent one I can inhale the story in one sitting, which is what happened with Reunited With His Long-Lost Nurse by Charlotte Hawkes. This is Harlequin Medical I dug up from the depths of my Kindle and it is hardly perfect, but it was readable so I'm counting it as a win.
Liam Miller is on his way to the fictional Caribbean island of St. Victoria to take over a case from a heart surgeon who has been laid up thanks to an accident. The only reason he's going is because of his dedication to his work and ensuring patients get the best care possible, otherwise he'd avoid St. Victoria like the plague. It's her home. Nurse Talia Johnson. The woman who breathed color and life into his empty existence when they worked together in North Carolina, only for him to come home one day to find she had ghosted him. Poof! Gone. No call, no note, nada.

Talia returned home for "reasons" (it takes some time to find out why) and I feel some kind of way about folks who ghost lovers, but when you meet Liam you understand. This guy might as well have a neon sign blinking over his head that screams "Emotionally Unavailable." Liam isn't the one who got away so much as he was the one that was never hers to begin with, even though she was in love with him. Nope, this guy is an emotional black hole. Doesn't believe in love. Thinks he's damaged beyond repair. Why? Daddy, of course. Liam's mother died in childbirth and from the cradle Daddy took his grief out on his son.

The conflict in this story is all internal and, while highly emotional, it's one of those stories where if Talia just told Liam why she had to rush home and that part of why she left is because he's emotionally vacant - well, this story would have been 50 pages long. Which means we get some talking in circles and repetition. The author infuses a decent sense of place, and pours on some medical jargon (honestly, heavier than I've read in most Medicals) but it boils down to this - Liam is emotionally unavailable and needs therapy, Talia should probably have slapped him and said, "Come find me when you want to stop punishing yourself."

Does this sound heartless of me? Probably. And yet still I zipped through the story. Hawkes can certainly bring the sexy times and while I found the internal conflict a little tedious at the start, it becomes more emotionally charged by the end. That said, it all felt too long and drawn out, and Medicals are roughly the same length as Harlequin Presents (under 200 pages) - so, yeah.

This is fourth and final book in The Island Clinic multi-author continuity series and it stands alone amazingly well. I didn't fall in love but I kept turning the pages and I read it in one sitting, only coming up for air when I couldn't ignore the need for dinner any longer. There was enough on the page here that I'd read this author again.

Final Grade = C+

Liam and Talia's story is a sweet story of finding long lost love. Liam is a marvelous surgeon who comes to Talia's home country of St. Victoria to treat a young girl who requires heart surgery.. I loved seeing how Talia and Liam reconnect and discover secrets about each other and how they affect them. I recommend this for book for those who love a good romance.

2 stars.

I just could not get into this book. I don’t think it was for me. DNFed at around 35%. Nothing really was happening that I liked in this book.

Good second chance romance. Talia is a nurse at the prestigious Island Clinic on St. Victoria Island, the small Caribbean island where she grew up. When she was younger, she couldn't wait to leave the island and spent some time at Duke Hospital in North Carolina. There she met and fell in love with Liam, a leading heart surgeon. But breaking through the walls around his heart proved to be impossible, and when her mother became ill, Talia went home without a word to Liam.

Liam is a man driven by the guilt he feels over his mother's death in childbirth. His father blamed him and hammered home his opinion of Liam's worthlessness at every chance. As a result, Liam has no experience with love and doesn't believe in it. Talia's departure reinforced his beliefs.

When the heart surgeon at the clinic is injured in an accident, Talia suggests Liam as a temporary replacement, knowing he's the best choice for an upcoming surgery. Talia plans to do a month's rotation at St. Vic's Hospital on the other side of the island to avoid seeing him. She's never forgotten how he broke her heart. There's no way Liam would refuse the invitation to work at the clinic. He knew it would be good for his reputation and career. He tried convincing himself that the chance to see Talia again had nothing to do with it.

I enjoyed seeing the rekindling of the relationship between Liam and Talia. Their reunion got off to a rocky start, with Liam confronting Talia over the way she left three years earlier. Though he wouldn't admit it, he still hurt over what he saw as her abandonment. Talia gave as good as she got, calling him on his inability to share anything of himself with her. But underneath the antagonism were the undeniable sparks of an attraction that had never died. Talia and Liam agree to put their hostility aside for the sake of their professional relationship and attempt to resume at least their friendship.

I loved watching Talia show Liam around her island home, seeing it through fresh eyes as she does. Spending time together allows their simmering attraction to grow until they can no longer resist it. Liam believes giving in will give him a chance to get Talia out of his system, but instead, she moves further past his walls. Talia knows she's falling for him all over again and attempts to get him to open up to her. Even when he does, his belief in his inability to love prevents him from seeing what they could have together. When Talia slips and confesses her feelings, Liam freaks out. After saying many hurtful things, Liam flees back to North Carolina, where he buries himself in his work while trying to forget. Meanwhile, Talia undergoes some soul-searching before going after what she wants. I loved the ending and seeing her show Liam how she feels and what is essential. Liam's "aha" moment was heartwrenching but opened his eyes to his feelings. I loved his big moment, and the epilogue showed a beautiful future for them.

As usual with the medical romances, there were several intense medical scenes. In this case, I liked the emergency they encountered on their island tour and their smooth teamwork under pressure. I also liked the detail provided on the heart surgery.

This is a Medical Second Chance Romance, and this is the 4th book in the The Island Clinic series. The setting of this book is so good, and I wish I was there. The heart surgeon Liam Miller comes to the Island Clinic to help in one case from Duke Hospital, and his old girlfriend Talia Johnson is a nurse at the Island Clinic. I found this book really fun to read, and I really liked the characters. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Medical Romance) or author (Charlotte Hawkers) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Of course anything Harlequin gets my attention, and that is because their authors are consistently bringing believable love stories with great characters and lots of passion. This novel is no exception. Although not my very favorite, it does come pretty close, providing a welcome escape with its easy entertaining and diverse story.