I love a good second-chance romance because the familiarity between the characters can lead to a much hotter, gripping romance. (Much like the brother’s friend trope, which is also a favorite!) Throw in the medical setting and Kimberly has given us a doozy in Charlie and Parker’s rocky path to HEA!
Charleston (Charlie) Becker and Parker Drake had met as interns at Remington Memorial Hospital and quickly fallen in love, including marriage and a baby on the way. After a devastating miscarriage, their relationship faltered and had ended up with Parker walking away from his internship and Charlie leaving to continue her residency in Nashville. Now 6 years later, Charlie is a successful general surgeon returning to Remington to fill in for her best friend Tess during her maternity leave. Unbeknownst to them, Parker is also resuming his path towards becoming a physician after working as a paramedic (Kimberly’s ‘Station Seventeen’ series) since shortly after leaving his original internship.
Their initial reunion is testy but they come to an uneasy agreement to bury their past and work together as colleagues. On Charlie’s part, she assumes Parker will give up and leave like the first time. All Parker wants is to finally realize his dream and knowing the Charlie will only be there 10 weeks, he hopes that they can work together and vows to remain professional. Of course since this is a romance, their ‘professional relationship only’ agreement doesn’t last and they begin a purely physical relationship that eventually jeopardizes both of their careers.
There is a lot to the story and a cast of engaging characters (even cranky Don!) that makes this a fun yet heartfelt read. As a reader, you feel the emotion from both Charlie and Parker which is definitely something that I look for when reading. They don’t come off as fake or staged, and I have always found that a connection to the characters is important for me to truly enjoy a book. And boy, can Kimberly write some steamy love scenes! I think I even blushed at one of them and I read a lot of straight-up erotica! But the combination of heart and heat is a signature of Kimberly’s books and ‘Back to You’ is definitely a contender for one of my favorites by her!
I would definitely recommend this for fans of TV shows like ER or Grey’s Anatomy, and fans of contemporary romance. If you are new to Kimberly’s books, this can be read as a stand-alone; knowledge of the Station Seventeen books is nice but not necessary!
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/back-to-you-kimberly-kincaid/1129923090?ean=2940161983782
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/back-to-you-a-remington-medical-contemporary-romance
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42920681-back-to-you?ac=1&from_search=true
