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       Then he kissed her. Tender kisses in a row, leading to her jaw.

      Edie tried to steady herself, tried willing herself to be calm, tried thinking of this as only a kiss—but as his lips first touched her flesh her knees nearly buckled underneath her, causing her to hold on to Rafe for dear life lest she slid to the ground at his feet. So, as her arms reached up to entwine themselves around his neck, rather than saying or doing anything that would spoil this perfect moment, Edie simply breathed out the longest, most satisfied sigh she’d ever sighed, and let the tingle of his lips trailing down the back of her neck take over.

      “Maybe we should stop,” she finally managed, when it was obvious he was ready to start yet another exploration. She didn’t want to stop, though. Not anything. But common sense was the only barrier between her and a broken heart, and she was just coming to realize that Rafe was the first man—the only man—who could break her heart.

       A new trilogy from Dianne Drake:

       With THE DOCTOR’S REASON TO STAYDianne Drake welcomes you to the first story in her New York Hospital Heartthrobs trilogy

      Three gorgeous guys return home to upstate New York. It’s a place they love to hate—until they each find a bride amidst the bustle of a very special hospital.

       Dear Reader,

      Welcome to New York Hospital Heartthrobs, a trilogy about coming home. And, I’d like to introduce you to Rafe Corbett, Jess Corbett and Rick Navarro, three real heartthrobs who have their own ideas about home. When I first learned I was going to write these books, I knew instantly that I wanted a theme about the place to which we are all connected—home. But I wanted more than that. I wanted to write stories about what compels people to want to go home and binds their hearts to that special place. In this group of stories, it was the love of a generous woman who touched countless lives…a woman much like your own mother, grandmother or aunt.

      Cherished memories…that’s what home is to me, and that’s what home becomes for the heroes and heroines of New York Hospital Heartthrobs. Of course, going home isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Just ask Rafe Corbett, in The Doctor’s Reason to Stay. He hasn’t been home for thirteen years, and has no intention of staying once he’s attended his aunt’s funeral. But it seems that a five-year-old girl named Molly, and a Child Life Specialist by the name of Edie Parker, have other plans for Rafe because, for some reason, he just can’t get away, even though he’s trying. Somewhere in his struggles to escape, though, Rafe finds a brand new definition of home. The question is, can he trust that home is truly where the heart is?

      I hope you enjoy Rafe and Edie’s discoveries in The Doctor’s Reason to Stay. Then please, come back to see what doctor-turned-firefighter, Jess Corbett and nurse/paramedic, Julie Clark, are up to in my next Heartthrob story. And, as always, I love hearing from you, so please feel free to email me at [email protected]

      Wishing you health & happiness!

       Dianne

      Now that her children have left home, Dianne Drake is finally finding the time to do some of the things she adores—gardening, cooking, reading, shopping for antiques. Her absolute passion in life, however, is adopting abandoned and abused animals. Right now Dianne and her husband Joel have a little menagerie of three dogs and two cats, but that’s always subject to change. A former symphony orchestra member, Dianne now attends the symphony as a spectator several times a month and, when time permits, takes in an occasional football, basketball or hockey game.

       Recent titles by the same author:

      FROM BROODING BOSS TO ADORING DAD

      THE BABY WHO STOLE THE DOCTOR’S HEART*

      CHRISTMAS MIRACLE: A FAMILY*

      HIS MOTHERLESS LITTLE TWINS*

      NEWBORN NEEDS A DAD*

      *Mountain Village Hospital

      The Doctor’s

      Reason to Stay

       Dianne Drake

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CONTENTS

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Epilogue

      CHAPTER ONE

      WHOEVER said you couldn’t go home again was right, in part. He was home in the physical sense now, sitting in an old wicker chair, sipping a tall glass of lemonade, with his feet propped up on the white rail separating the porch from the masses of purple and pink flowering hydrangeas traversing the front and both sides of Gracie House. Emotionally, though, Dr. Rafe Corbett was distanced from this place. Distanced by miles and year upon year of memories and pain yet so acute that more than a decade of separation felt like mere seconds. Distanced was the way he wanted to stay, however. But it was hard to do that right now, when half the population of Lilly Lake, New York, expected something of the family prodigal finally returned home.

      “I see you,” he said to the child sneaking up behind him. Molly Corbett, not any blood relation to him but his aunt’s ward, was truly alone in the world now, and his heart did go out to her.

      “Do not,” she said, a little too shy for the usually outgoing girl.

      “Do too,” he replied. “You’re wearing a red dress.” Rafe flinched, thinking about Molly, then thinking about his aunt. Grace Corbett been the best person in his life, and the fact that she was gone now really hadn’t sunk in. Logically, he knew she’d had a heart attack. Emotionally, he wasn’t ready to deal with it. Wasn’t ready to cry, or grieve, or even miss her yet, because some part of him expected her to walk through her door, tell him it was all a big mistake, maybe even a scheme to get him home to Lilly Lake. God knew, she’d tried everything she could think of these past thirteen years, to no avail.

      “It’s yellow, silly,” she said.

      “That’s what I said. You’re wearing a yellow dress.” But, then, there was Molly, to remind him. Big, sad eyes. Clingy. His heart ached for her. She was five, and he didn’t know what she understood, or didn’t understand. And he, sure as hell, wasn’t the one who should be trying to relate to her.

      “It’s not a dress,” she countered, not giving over to the giggles like she normally had when Aunt Grace had brought her along on her visits.

      Sighing,

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