Thursday, September 1, 2011

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.



5 comments:

  1. I think Disaster Status is my favourite in this series. But I loved them all. Mind you I've never watched Grey's Anatomy (am I the only one in the universe?!). I did hesitate over even trying them because I'm not into medical dramas be it tv or movies but I found CAlvert was realistic without being so technical that I didn't know what was happening.

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  2. Kav,

    You are seriously not missing much by not watching Grey's Anatomy. I got hooked on it initially based on a recommendation from a co-worker, but after a few seasons, it got way too crazy for my taste. The choices that some people make for their lifestyle preferences are their decision, but it doesn't mean I have to watch it on tv....I'll just leave it at that.

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  3. Christy,

    It's nice to see that somelse didn't really like Crictial Care. To me it seemed to much like the medical drama's on TV. It's also good to know that the second book ist better.

    Kav,
    Your not the only one who hasn't seen Grey's Anatomy so there's at least two of us who have never seen the show.

    Carissa

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  4. Thanks, Carissa. The second book is miles better than the first, and I think the main reason for that is it was probably more of Candace's own making. I'm guessing the first book was the result of an idea pitch from the publisher, and there were just too many close comparisons to Grey's Anatomy to make Critical Care stand out as a unique story.

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  5. I actually took down my review of Critical Care, because the whole romance just completely went against my views of marriage. I didn't mention that in the review and it bothered me. :P

    I recently picked up Code Triage at the thrift store, but I still haven't read this one.

    I'm glad you liked it better!

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I love your comments!! They make me happier than cold sweet tea on a hot summer day! :o)