Book Review: Disaster Status by Candace Calvert/4 Stars

About the book:

Charge nurse Erin Quinn escaped personal turmoil to work on the peaceful California coast. But when a hazardous material spill places Pacific Mercy Hospital on disaster status and stresses staff, she’s put to the test. And thrown into conflict with the fire department’s handsome incident commander, who thinks her strategy is out of line. 

Fire Captain Scott McKenna has felt the toxic effects of tragedy; he’s learned to go strictly by the book to advance his career, heal his family, and protect his wounded heart. When he’s forced to team with the passionately determined ER charge nurse, sparks fly. As they work to save lives, can they handle the attraction kindled between them . . . without getting burned?

My thoughts:

I will forever stand by the opinion that authors always deserve a second chance. Truly, I did not enjoy Candace's first novel, Critical Care. I thought it was a copycat version of Grey's Anatomy that was unrealistic and over the top.

However.... :o)

Disaster Status was oh-so-much better! I was a little nervous going into the first few chapters that Candace was still on the Grey's Anatomy kick, but she quickly proved me wrong. This story was much more genuine, and had realistic characters that slowly crept into my heart. I got to reconnect with Erin, and watch as she grew into a "woman of strength." And I also got to meet hunky Scott McKenna, and cheered him on while he struggled to make the right decisions for himself and his family. Last, but not least, little Cody stole my heart with his sweet disposition and brave front--all the while not knowing if he would lose his leg because of a dangerous infection.

It was very apparent that Candace knew her stuff when it came to ER procedures and patient care. Those portions of the book were expertly written. On the flip side, I didn't enjoy her sentence structure. There were far too many sentence fragments for my taste, and with a little more work (or a better editor), I believe she could get her point across more effectively with complete sentences. Also, I wish that Scott's occupation had been mentioned more. All I knew throughout the story was that he was a fire captain who had some medical training, but there were no scenes that had him actually on the job putting out fires.

Candace shows a lot of promise as a Christian fiction author, and clearly, medical dramas are her forte. I'm eager to see how she progresses with her writing, and I plan to search out the next and final book in this series, Code Triage.

4 Stars

Southern?  No
Sass?  No

**Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.