Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Doctor’s Desire 
SERIES: Carlisle Medical
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
PUBLISHER: Andrew Grey Books
LENGTH: 119 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2022
BLURB:
General practitioner Dustin Avarilla has been on the job for a few years—long enough to find out that some doctors, especially his boss, don’t see things the same way he does. Dustin believes that the patients come first, but his boss is more concerned with the bottom line. When Charles Morton brings his very sick niece in right at closing time, Dustin’s care starts trouble with his boss, but touches Charles’s bruised heart.
Charles is nearly frantic when his niece becomes ill. He’s had custody of Anna for only six months, following her parents’ sudden death, and he might be in over his head. Dustin is gentle and caring, which is just what his little patient and her Uncle Cheesy need. Charles feels his focus has to be on Anna, and the last thing he’s looking for is love. Dealing with a new job and town, along with becoming a parent, is almost more than he can handle.
Charles and Dustin meet again at a friend’s party, with heated attraction drawing them closer. One dinner leads to a date, with chemistry building by the second. But Charles’s mother, who feels Anna should be left in her care, and Dustin’s boss, who decides their relationship isn’t up to the family image of the practice, form an unlikely alliance that threatens to pull their budding relationship apart. While alone, they are vulnerable, together they might just get everything they desire.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second book in this series, but it can be read as a standalone with minor spoilers for the first book.
Dustin is a GP in the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He loves his patience and his work even if his boss and the practice owner, Franklin, is a huge PITA. He’s way more interested in his profit margin than he seems to be in providing quality care to the patients. Dustin is growing really weary of being second guessed and taken to task for doing what he believes is right for his patients.
Charles Morton is a single dad raising his orphaned niece. He comes into the office just as they are closing and Dustin takes care of things with Anna, his niece, even though he was on his way out. The staff stays as well, which leads to Franklin questioning Dustin once again 😉 Charles is really grateful as he’s never dealt with a sick kid before. Dustin is content because he knows he did the right thing.
Charles and Dustin meet again at a friend’s party that Amy, Dustin’s bestie and neighbor insists he has to attend to get out of the house. It’s clear that the attraction is mutual. Amy does her best to move things along by inviting Charles and Anna to dinner at her house the following weekend. Dustin learns that Charles is new to town and that his niece is his recently deceased sister’s child and he’s definitely still dealing with some grief. They agree to meet for coffee which doesn’t go totally to plan. The end up going to dinner and running into Franklin and his sourpuss wife Candi. Needless to say this doesn’t exactly go well.
As time goes on, it becomes clear that Franklin is not going to relent in his dogging of Dustin. Then Charles’s family shows up. His mother is controlling and there is a very good reason that his sister and BIL did NOT want her to have anything to do with raising Anna. She clearly has issues with Charles’s sexuality – telling him it’s a phase and that he’s not the person to raise his niece. It only goes downhill from there. But Charles has Dustin and his new friends to support him and give him the courage to do what’s right for him and for Anna.
This is another very sweet romance from Andrew Grey in this Carlisle Medical series. Not a lot of groundbreaking territory here, but the character are lovely and so is the setting. The MCs, Dustin and Charles, are a bit smitten with each other and with only a tiny nudge, figure out it might be nice to date 🙂 Amy, Dustin’s best friend is a gem. Besides being an awesome neighbor and dogsitter, she’s genuinely happy to see Dustin find someone he is compatible with and really likes. Dustin also is a really good doctor because he listens! Charles has suffered a tremendous loss in his only sister and her husband and he’s taken on the raising of his niece Anna as requested in her will. He loves Anna and he’s going to do his best and it’s clear from his first minute on the page that he takes his role as parent to this child who has lost hers very seriously. He’s not really had a lot of experience with children but he’s determined. Both men have to deal with people in their lives who want to cast judgement on them based on their sexuality. Thankfully they also have lots of supportive friends and colleagues to counteract these people. I really enjoyed getting to see a glimpse of the couple from the previous book in this series in a scene in this book as well 🙂 The ending is appropriate and very happy for all 🙂
If you’re look for a sweet story with a happy ending, some low level angst and folks following their hearts, then this one is for you.
RATING: 
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