Their Special-Care Baby (Top-Notch Docs) by Fiona McArthur (Harlequin Medical Romance 2008)

My 50th book!!!!   A train crash, a rush to save a baby, a romance!

Dr. Stewart Kramer stands waiting to greet his sister-in-law Desire, undoubtedly another one of his brother's terrible choices in women. When a train crash causes a horrible scene, Stewart knows he must step in to save a baby whose life is threatened. The scene inside the train is not pretty. A woman begs for the life of her unborn child to be saved. Desiree has no memory of her child Sophie or much of anything. As she and Stewart are drawn together though the care of this special baby, they find something special in each other, not just physical attraction but something much deeper....

Woohoo, 50 books. I chose to blog this book as my 50th book because I discovered Harlequin MEdical Romance's during last year's Challenge. This particularbook is difficult to write about without creating spoilers but it encapsulates a lot of why I love this line of romances despite the fact that I am not a medical person. The medical neo-natal perspective here made me think about babies in a new way. One scene in particular had a great deal of sensitivity and poetic beauty in the midst of the medical scene. I read in the author bio that Fiona McArthur is a midwife. I wasn't surprised seeing how she writes babies with such a wonderful sensitivity to mother and child..

It is very hard to write about this book without creating spoilers right now. I have held off blogging it til the last of my shoulder vacation reads trying to figure out how to write about this book and not do spoilers. Here is what I can say... I just love the realism of the medical setting of the MedicalRomance line and this romance in particular. Certain plot devices take on a whole different meaning and context and even emotion when they are placed within a medical context. I also like how the medical situation allows for the innate goodnes in hero and heroine to shine through. In Their Special-Care Baby, the romantic conflict somehow elicits that goodness from within. Refreshing. The medical situation gives an entirely different context to the heroine's journey compared seeing something similar in suspense. One thing I liked is how the author gave just enough clues so that reader had some idea of some of the details before the characters. That fine balance made their discoveries aquite enjoyable. Some very heart-warming scenes centering around Stewart's mom.

One priceless line (p. 132, about the middle of the page) about falling in love made a whole lot of sense to me. One of tose those "Aaaahhh" lines that you want to underline for future reference or turn over in the mind a while because it is so true.

Anyhow, I chose this book as Book 50 because my two favorite short romance lines are Harlequin Romance and Harlequin Medical Romance. The two lines are a nice complement because they are different yet similar enough to go well together. The Medicals vary more on the steam level, the HRs on the setting and tone. Both have a tenderness that appeals to me and both tend to have heroes whose goodness comes through more than the arrogance and meanness of the classic Alpha heroes. Even when HRs and MRs have Aplha heroes, there is just a bit of a different twisr to them. In Fiona McArthur's romance, the hero Stewart is highly competent --- a top-notch doctor--- but he uses his power and position to help others rather than power over someone else.

I have made a big push to catch up on my HR subscription this past month. Making some progress on that front, my next goal is to start catching up on my Medical reads, while staying current with my subscriptions etc. My March Medicals are a bit slow arriving and may not get here til A;pril. It makes me wonder if I might be better off just ordering them from the website on the first of the month because they would be here already. It's a tough choice. This line sells out so fast that I hate to leave it and risk the SOLD-OUT banner.

AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus