Doctor in Petticoats

Title: DOCTOR IN PETTICOATS
Author: Mary Connealy
Publisher: Barbour Books
July 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60260-146-8
Genre: Inspirational/historical

Beth McCellan is on the way to Mosqueros, Texas, for her sister, Mandy’s wedding. But on the way, the train is stopped because of a bridge being out due to a hurricane. Forced to take the stage, Beth fears she won’t make it to town in time. But she knows she won’t when she is forced to help the stage coach driver control the runaway stage when another stage crashes in front of them.

Managing to stop only because the horses can’t go around the wreckage, Beth gets out to attend to the injured. But even if she is a nurse, she can’t do the doctoring alone. She forces the drunk on the stage with her to get out and help. But Alex Buchanan isn’t a drunk. He’s a doctor, burned out on life, burned out on war, burned out on medicine. He reluctantly helps, but that opens up a door that he never wanted to go through.

Beth thinks Alex is a lunatic when he proposes that they marry and work together. And that is where the real trouble begins.

DOCTOR IN PETTICOATS is the first book in Ms. Connealy’s newest series, Sophie’s Daughters. Written in Mr. Connealy’s trademark humorous style, the story has strong women, men with a painful past, and plenty of humor.

I enjoyed getting to know Beth and Alex as well as Beth’s other sisters. It was also nice to ‘revisit’ Sophie, Belle, and other characters from Ms. Connealy’s previous series. If you enjoy historical fiction, then you’ll love DOCTOR IN PETTICOATS. $12.99. 320 pages.