Outside the Lines releases TODAY!
Book links:
Synopsis:
As an ivy-league ER doctor who eats double shifts for breakfast (and lunch…and dinner), Blake Fisher has little appetite for anything other than work. Being on the staff at Brenstville Hospital means taking care of people, a need Blake understands all too well from losing his brother to cystic fibrosis eight years ago. When he’s asked to coordinate a carnival fundraiser for the cause, he jumps at the chance to help others with the disease…until it lands him side by side with the one woman he never thought he’d see again: his ex-fiancée.
Streetwise and rough around the edges, Jules Shaw is no stranger to earning a living through hard work. But when her job as the restaurant manager of Mac’s Diner puts her shoulder to really broad shoulder with Blake Fisher, she nearly balks. She’d rather dodge and deflect than admit the real reason she broke things off, but the catering contract for the carnival means big business for Mac’s, and feeding people is Jules’s lifeblood.
As Blake and Jules join reluctant forces, they quickly rediscover the spark between them. But the possibility of a future together hinges on coming clean about the past, with potentially devastating consequences. Can Blake and Jules overcome their drastically different backgrounds and learn to love again, or will they always be outside the lines?
My Review:
Outside the Lines is the newest piece from Kimberly Kincaid and follows her novella, Drawing the Line, a story I really enjoyed. Well, Kimberly has worked her magic again! Outside the Lines was wonderful!
Jules Shaw, the manager at Mac’s Diner, has faced her share of hardships in her past and is finally feeling like she’s overcome them. She feels at home running the restaurant and feels like she’s doing some good in the world making and feeding people with foods she loves. So, you’d think she knows her way around the kitchen but when she burns her arm and heads to the hospital the last person she expects to have treat her wound is the ex-fiancé she left behind eight years ago. Adding insult to injury, after being treated and thinking she could outrun her past again, she finds out she will be working with the good doctor for a charity event she has busted her chops to land the catering contract for. The fates really do have it in for her, it seems.
Blake Fisher must have worked entirely too many shifts in a row…because surely his eyes are playing tricks on him. The woman who took his heart with her when she left him eight years earlier cannot be sitting in his ER. He never would have thought he’d run into her when he moved away from the city and back to his roots and this hospital. But sure enough, here she is, and his reaction to her is exactly as strong as it was back then. Can he be lucky enough to have a second chance with the beautiful, strong and talented woman he hasn’t been able to get out of his mind for all this time?
Will Blake and Jules find out what went wrong and what caused her to leave him with nothing more than a Dear John letter? Having to work together for the next six weeks planning the hospital’s annual charity event will give them plenty of time spent in each other’s company….and will make it damn hard to ignore the spark that still lingers between them.
Well, let me say that for just 109 pages, this novella packs a punch! I sat down to start this, and before I knew it, I had ignored a whole afternoon worth of responsibility because I was so into this story. Jules is a gal I really enjoyed. She’s overcome many obstacles and never forgot where she came from. She is always baking or cooking and making sure the people she cares for have what they need. Blake is just as enjoyable. He’s an honest to goodness, all around good guy wrapped in a handsome package. He’s got a great big heart that shows when he’s caring for his patients and when he’s with Jules. Together, their relationship is just very honest to me. They realize their attraction and are simply two people trying to figure out how to make it work. What I liked best about this novella was that there had been a history between the characters before the story picked up, which made the story really easy to get in to, and a pleasure to read. The back-story and current situations both were balanced out really well and I didn’t feel I was missing anything or that I was getting too much of somthing. I imagine that’s hard to do with a shorter story, but Kimberly does is flawlessly here!
Thank you, Kimberly, for another delicious read! I cannot wait to see what treats she has in store for us in the future (…and I’m hoping it involves a sexy fireman named Aaron!)
Five Loves
About the author:
Kimberly Kincaid writes contemporary romance that splits the difference between sexy and sweet. When she’s not sitting cross-legged in an ancient desk chair known as “The Pleather Bomber”, she can be found practicing obscene amounts of yoga, whipping up anything from enchiladas to éclairs in her kitchen, or curled up with her nose in a book. Kimberly is a 2011 RWA Golden Heart® finalist who lives (and writes!) by the mantra that food is love. Kimberly resides in northern Virginia with her wildly patient husband and their three daughters.
So, so happy you loved it! I had such a great time writing Blake and Jules into a story. And don’t lose sight of Aaron… he’s a little too tasty to disappear!