Welcome Heidi Cullinan to Making it Happen!
Thanks for having me today. I’m here to talk about my new book The Doctor’s Date, available in ebook, trade paper, and mass market from Dreamspinner Press. It’s book two in the Copper Point: Medical series, and it’s the story of Erin Andreas, no-nonsense hospital administrator, and Dr. Owen Gagnon, the cantankerous anesthesiologist.
Today I want to talk about two side characters and the heroes for the next book, Jared and Nick.
One of the joys of writing a series knowing who all your pairings are going to be up front is watching them dance around and ultimately towards each other. They move from being best friends and support systems to the centers of their own stories. Nick and Jared are especially fun because they have a past together, one not even their friends know about. It leaks out in various places, but mostly they keep it to themselves.
Above all, though, Nick and Jared love their friends and support them unconditionally. Here’s a scene from The Doctor’s Date where Nick basically plays big brother to Erin, making sure Owen has the right intentions.
I hope you enjoy The Doctor’s Date, and I hope learning more about Nick and Jared makes you that much more eager for The Doctor’s Orders!
*
As CEOs went, Nick was pretty chill. Too much so, if you asked Jared. Owen agreed to a point, though he thought most of the problem was the leadership around the man. How was he supposed to be aggressive when he was so hamstrung? Jared argued Nick was too cautious, too eager to play the middle. “He’s somewhere between Obama and Aaron Burr” was Jared’s favorite complaint.
He didn’t look hesitant now, more like a patient predator. Nick leaned on the edge of the barrier and stared at the ground, leaving Owen waiting.
Owen joined his employer at the crumbling wall. “When we’re done here, I’m taking Erin to the city gym to learn racquetball.”
This broke Nick out of his concentration loop, tripping him into mild alarm. “Erin? Playing racquetball?”
Nodding, Owen brushed a few pieces of loose gravel onto the clinic roof below. “He wants to have matches with some of the board members eventually. First he has to be able to hold his own in a court, though.”
The way Nick’s expression shuttered at board members told Owen Nick was in on the hunt for the embezzler too, which made sense. Good. It meant Erin wasn’t doing this on his own.
Was this what Nick had brought Owen up here to talk about?
Nick tapped his thumb on the ledge as he cut a glance at Owen. “So you’re actually dating him now?”
“I’m actually dating him.”
Nick grimaced. “I shouldn’t have told him it was okay to stay with you. I should have brought him to our place. My mother and Grandma Emerson wouldn’t have blinked, if I’d asked.”
Hold on. “What do you mean, you shouldn’t have told him? What do you have to do with any of this?”
“I told him to stay with you so he could work on the files without his father getting in the way.”
“You mean the ones I solved for him?”
Nick pursed his lips. “Yes, those. The ones you weren’t supposed to have anything to do with. Just like you were only supposed to pretend to date him.”
Owen leaned one elbow on the wall and studied Nick more carefully. “Is there something wrong with me dating Erin? As for the files, all I did was solve a little math problem.”
“It was well more than a little math problem.”
Truth. “Erin asked me not to talk about it, so I haven’t. Not even with him.”
“You also made a public scene with him in front of the town. Nothing about any of that was in his character, and you started all of it.”
“Did I miss something where you were Erin’s nanny that made his decisions for him?”
“You’re no good for him. You rile him up and confuse him. And while I know you’re a good man, when you wander off because this lark doesn’t work out, it’s him who’s going to have hell to pay.”
“Who says I’m wandering off? We’ve been fake dating a few weeks, legitimately dating for a few days. Could you give me a little credit here? I think I’d look creepier if I already had a wedding ring out, don’t you?”
“I’ve watched out for that damn kid since I was fifteen. If I didn’t, my grandmother would skin me alive. As it happens, though, he’s also a friend.”
What in the hell? “You’re telling me you’re giving me the big-brother talk because your grandmother told you you’d damn well better?”
“Yessir.”
He said it so automatically and with such a straight face Owen was inclined to believe him. Plus, he’d met Nick’s grandmother. She was ninety-three now but still living at home, and she was the only one the nursing staff feared more than Owen. Shaking his head, Owen turned his back to the wall and stared across the roof. “I’ll be damned.”
“You might well be. She wants you to stop by. I recommend bringing that lemon meringue you’re so proud of. Leave the jokes about wedding rings at home.” Nick ran a hand over his hair with a sigh. “She’s never liked how Erin doesn’t have family, how John Jean set up his life to keep him from ever finding one.”
Owen’s hands closed into fists. “Let him try now.”
“Don’t go poking that bear. You saw how he bested Jack without so much as lifting a butter knife. That was over a surgeon position. This is about his son.”
No way was Owen leaving this alone. “It’s absolutely about his son. The son he’s neglected. Abused. Toyed with. Tricked.”
“Tricked?” Nick’s expression became stony. “Are we talking about Erin’s father, or yours?”
The air left Owen’s lungs. For a moment he felt helpless, cold.
A rush of anger filled him, sweeping through him like a vortex of fire starting at his feet, familiar heat and power from that tempting emotion. Take this, and you won’t have to feel scared anymore.
Shutting his eyes, Owen drew air into his body, ignoring the invitation to anger, sitting with his feeling of helplessness. “I’m talking about Erin. And if this was your way of testing me, it was a dick move.”
The silence went on too long, and when Owen opened his eyes, Nick regarded him with an expression even Jared couldn’t criticize: the cool, composed, confident, but ultimately kind countenance of a leader.
“It’s not cruel to test you when I’m trying to protect Erin. You and I haven’t ever been close, and I have too many memories of you blowing your top at everyone when we were in school. Of course I’m going to poke you a bit when I find out you’re seeing my friend.” Winking, Nick clamped a hand on Owen’s shoulder as he headed to the door leading into the hospital. “Good job, though. You passed.”
Blurb
The hospital’s least eligible bachelor and its aloof administrator hate each other… so why are they pretending to date?
Dr. Owen Gagnon and HR director Erin Andreas are infamous for their hospital hallway shouting matches. So imagine the town’s surprise when Erin bids an obscene amount of money to win Owen in the hospital bachelor auction—and Owen ups the ante by insisting Erin move in with him.
Copper Point may not know what’s going on, but neither do Erin and Owen. Erin intends his gesture to let Owen know he’s interested. Owen, on the other hand, suspects ulterior motives—that Erin wants a fake relationship as a refuge from his overbearing father.
With Erin suddenly heading a messy internal investigation, Owen wants to step up and be the hero Erin’s never had. Too bad Erin would rather spend his energy trying to rescue Owen from the shadows of a past he doesn’t talk about.
This relationship may be fake, but the feelings aren’t. Still, what Erin and Owen have won’t last unless they put their respective demons to rest. To do that, they’ll have to do more than work together—they’ll have to trust they can heal each other’s hearts.
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Carra's Review
With a touch of enemies to lovers and the backdrop of hospital drama, The Doctor’s Date is an emotionally charged story which had me totally enthralled—I absolutely LOVED Owen and Erin, and their individual stories were poignant and moving on their own. But together? Oh, my heart.
They both have major parental issues. Not similar ones, though the results of those issues do have repercussions that help them understand each other more easily. As Owen’s are slowly exposed throughout the story, it gives a ton of insight into his personality, and what happened in his past broke my heart. Erin’s side of things evokes a familiar situation of a domineering parent using his child as a puppet, and the treatment Erin received as he was growing up was distressing—especially since Erin just acted as if it was acceptable.
These two guys, no matter how much they fought in the first book of the series, and no matter how much they still do here (at least at the start), they just belong together—period. They understand each other, soothe each other, and make each other whole. The amount of support they give each other makes Erin a rock for Owen, and especially Owen one for Erin. Owen and Erin are absolutely #relationshipgoals even if what they have to go through in their lives is hard and complicated.
That hospital drama? Through much of the story it hangs around, very slowly (almost painfully slowly) picking up steam. In the last quarter of the book though it really moves to the forefront, and kept me on edge until the final resolution. This also means family drama as well.
All the guys are involved throughout the book, and they are all there for each other with a strong framework of support, forming their own type of family along the way. Do you need to read the first book before this one? Maybe not, but I think you’ll get a better feel for the situation at the hospital regarding the administration which plays an integral role here in book two. Besides, you’ll want to get to know all the guys, plus book one also sets the stage for Owen and Erin’s tempestuous connection.
This is my second-favorite book by this author (it’s going to be REALLY hard to knock Antisocial out of the top spot), and was a 4.5-star read for me. The sexual content is relatively light, but enough that it along with some adult language makes this story one for readers 18+.
About the Author
Author of over thirty novels, Midwest-native Heidi Cullinan writes positive-outcome romances for LGBT characters struggling against insurmountable odds because she believes there’s no such thing as too much happy ever after. Heidi is a two-time RITA® finalist and her books have been recommended by Library Journal, USA Today, RT Magazine, and Publisher’s Weekly. When Heidi isn't writing, she enjoys cooking, reading novels and manga, playing with her cats, and watching too much anime. Find out more at heidicullinan.com.
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