Cops and Docs series (book one) off to a fantastic start
This story is easy to read, high on drama with loads of witty banter between characters and sizzling chemistry between Nora and Kelli. I look forward to reading the entire series and getting to follow these characters around a little longer in the two books that follow.
Kelli loves to banter and often comes across a rude or brash even though she is capable of being polite when she feels like it; I didn’t like her much in the beginning of the story or the way she treats Nora and others but she grew on me (it’s very much like Jane and Maura’s interplay on the TV show ‘Rizzoli and Isles’ TV show). Her family is boisterous and playful, her relationships with her current and former partners on the police force reveal more about Kelli’s personality and feelings which she often tries to hide. Some of the conversations between her current partner Travis and Kelli would easily qualify as shop talk, not politically correct to anyone listening in on them, and Kelli has a definite ‘potty mouth’ as her brother calls it; she is a smartass and some readers may find her unappealing for those reasons. Nora is more straitlaced, clinical, aloof, literal and unintentionally hilarious with the blunt things she says to colleagues who try to ruffle her feathers. There are hospital politics at play in this story as I had expected but tons of laughs to offset that and other dramas happening in the story to keep it interesting.
It’s very slow burn between Nora and Kelli and understandably so given the drama swirling about in each of their lives, but reading their relationship develop slowly from strangers to friends is very satisfying. I wondered more than once if the story was inspired in part by ‘Rizzoli and Isles’ or was previously an AU type fanfiction story for the Rizzles relationship given some of the similarities (which may appeal to fans of the show and the Rizzles pairing in general); there are enough differences between the show and this book however for it not to be a carbon copy, and to be a compelling read in its own right. If anything it’s an improvement on the TV show in terms of telling a gripping story with the right balance of comedy and drama, along with some mystery and romance tossed in; where the show was lacking, this story is not and I hope the remaining books in the series only build on that foundation in every way. I am eager to read the rest of the Cops and Docs series (book two is out now and book three will be out later this later) to see where the story and characters go from here.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

(Reviewed February 9, 2017)