Nightwatch by Jo Leigh, Harlequin, Code Red, January 2005

Nightwatch is book ten in the Code Red series and this book focuses on a bad storm, knocking out power lines and causing damage. We meet Dr.'s Rachel Browne and Guy Giroux (brother to Natalie from Total Exposure and Alex Giroux from No Known Cure in the Heatwave anthology). A young woman dies in the ER giving birth on Rachel's watch and Guy wants to know why when he realizes the mother was his step-daughter.

Rachel is all work and no play. She has given up most aspects that would resemble a life outside the hospital to be a doctor. She's the child of a military household so has always been emotionally closed, distant. She believes this heightens her ability as a doctor, to be able to stay objective and not get emotionally involved with her patients. It is fun watching Rachel develop and gets in tune with her emotions.

Guy is a divorcé who, like Rachel, is all business. He is the chief of the ER and has worked hard to get where he is, his relationships suffering because of that. Guy's emotional development is a little less gradual than Rachel's is. He is hit hard by learning the deceased patient is his ex-wife's daughter, realizing she must have been coming to Courage Bay to see him. Maybe even to get help. The baby, named Heath after his mother, Heather, is born with some difficulties and Rachel and Guy want to find the baby's father.

I enjoyed Nightwatch, I found it a little difficult to understand why someone so into himself like Guy was kept referring to Heath as his grandson. But clearly he identified with the baby and it was the beginning of his becoming more human. Their paths cross a few likeable secondary characters on their way to identifying the baby's father. Overall, Nightwatch was an enjoyable read.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com