The Heart of Rutherford

Life Lessons Novels 1-3

By: Melanie A. Smith

Narrated by: Rachel Woods, Jake Bordeaux

Length: 15 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Come visit the cardiac unit at Rutherford Hospital, where three steamy romances unfold, now with bonus epilogues.

Never Date a Doctor

Some lessons are more fun when learned the hard way...

What’s the first rule of nurse’s club? Never date a doctor. Which Sasha Suvorin has no intention of doing, since she’s a nurse at Rutherford Hospital by day and working on her master’s degree by night. Who has time for dating, much less dating someone you work with? Bad idea much?

That is, until the sexy British Dr. Caleb Thompson starts at her hospital. It doesn’t help that he’s exactly her type with his dark hair, blue eyes, and rockin’ bod. Or that he’s not your typical arrogant and bossy surgeon. But Sasha isn’t easily convinced, and she soon discovers Dr. Hottie has a past that puts a stop to whatever she might have been feeling before anything starts between them.

Unfortunately, working together means facing temptation. Every. Single. Day. Is Sasha strong enough to resist what might be the perfect man? And if she gives in, will Cal’s past stay in the past? Sasha may be used to playing it safe, but life has a way of teaching its lessons...one way or another.

Bad Boys Don’t Make Good Boyfriends

Even when you know better, sometimes it’s simply too tempting...

Hospital work isn’t for the faint of heart. Becca Dillon knows that, having worked as a medical assistant in the cardiac unit at Rutherford Hospital for longer than she cares to think about. What she does care to think about is having fun, gossip, and guys. Her favorite of the three. And why stick to one, when you can sample them all?

That’s exactly her plan when a workplace crush on a mysterious bad-boy orderly takes a steamy turn. But Vincent DeMarco is nothing like she expected, and before she knows it, she’s falling hard. She wants him in ways she’s never wanted anyone before, but there’s something he’s keeping from her. Something that’s holding him back. And Becca is going to find out what.

Even though she knows that bad boys don’t make good boyfriends, he seems like he might be so much more. Will her quest unlock the truth? Or will it end their relationship? Either way, Becca’s world is about to change.

You Can’t Buy Love

Money can’t buy happiness, but neither can pride...

Julianna Magnusson is tired of working at her thankless job as a nurse practitioner for the cardiac unit at Rutherford Hospital. Tired of having no time for her own life. But most of all, she’s tired of pretending that she’s happy about it. So, when her boss insists she attend the annual hospital charity gala, spending money on a dress to impress a bunch of stuck-up snobs doesn’t exactly sound like her idea of a good time.

Still, she makes an appearance. Only to meet a handsome stranger named Noah who stops her from drunkenly confronting the man who owns the hospital about all the issues at work. Then, Noah does so much more, giving her a night of passion that she’ll never forget. Still, Jules has no intentions of taking it further.

©2020 Melanie A. Smith (P)2021 Melanie A. Smith

Amazing Novels

I’ve already read Never Date a Doctor but I wanted to hear it this time and it was so worth it. The narrators do amazing job of presenting the different characters.
The three stories are very different and can be read as stand-alone. The heroines are three best friend who work together in a hospital, so their stories are somewhat interwind. All three stories get their unique HEA. Sasha finally gets her “universe” guy, Becca captures the “bad boy” and Jules accepts the cocky, rich guy. All stories feel sensible and authentic, and the characters very real, so you have no choice but to love them all.
I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a promo code.

A Smoking🔥Hot🔥Trio of Awesomeness! Great Listen 🎧📚🎧

This is a fantastic trilogy box set of three amazing workplace romance novels set in Rutherford Hospital. Each book was well written with interesting storylines that were captivating from start to end. The characters are realistic, easy to relate to and connect with, each book featured different lead characters, the female leads worked together in the cardiac unit of the hospital and were good friends. The first book,”Never Date a Doctor” is Sasha Suvorin & Dr. Caleb “Cal” Thompson’s story, Sasha is a nurse studying for her master’s degree to become a nurse practitioner. Cal transferred to the unit from another hospital and as soon as Sasha saw him she though he was the same guy she had an instant attraction with 10 years earlier. But is that really possible, he was a Brit in California, he looked like him but what are the chances. Ms. Smith fit a lot of story into this book, jealous coworkers, workplace drama, relationship drama, twists and turns, heartfelt romance and some hot romance. This was the perfect start to the series. The second book, “Bad Boys Don’t Make Good Boyfriends” Becca Dillion a medical assistant in the unit crushed on Vincent DeMarco, an orderly, but he is elusive and hard to read. But a hot encounter leaves her breathless and wanting more but he is secretive and she thinks he is hiding something. Becca has a take no crap personality yet there is a part of her that is in secure, when she goes to find out what Vincent is hiding she gets more that she bargained for. I loved these two together but it did not come easy. This book also had plenty of drama, some angst, heartfelt moments and some hot romance, turns out some bad boys can be so good. The third book “You Can't Buy Love: A Billionaire Romance” is Julianna “Jules” Magnusson and Noah Rutherford’s story, Jules is the nurse practitioner and practically runs the Cardiac Unit. She is a bit disgruntled with upper management and after a few cocktails at the annual charity gala she was ready to talk to the top dog himself and give him a piece of her mind. but a handsome man stops her from making a huge mistake, he then distracts her is the best way possible, a steamy hot way. Turns out his handsome gentleman is a Rutherford and he will be reevaluating everything at the hospital making cuts where ever possible. Jules is not afraid to speak her mind and the two clash, the handsome gentlemen is replaced with a ruthless conniver or is he. Noah tells her not everything is as it seems, Jules finds it hard to trust him but she can not deny that chemistry that is between them is smoking. I loved these two together, both are strong willed, Jules is proud and no impressed by money one bit. Noah needed to learn that he needed to earn her love and trust in other ways. Like the first two books, I loved how everything played out, the story is cleverly plotted and there is never a dull moment, this book was a great wrap up to the trilogy, the extra epilogues are awesome too. Melanie James, thank you for these awesome stories and this wonderfully entertaining series!

🎧📚🎧 Rachel Woods and Jake Bordeaux were the perfect cast to bring these characters and their story to life. They did an awesome portraying the characters, giving each their own distinct voice including the accent for the Brit. They had a complete understanding of each character they played, then took each role and made it their own, sounding believable and just as I pictured the character to sound. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all of the characters emotions which was reflected into their performance. These two talented voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for the awesome listen.

Loved it!

This audio book was given to me by the author but I am choosing to leave this review, I loved it! It was even better than I expected. It makes you fall in love with every character in their cute little world. :) I would definitely would recommend this book!

GREAT SERIES!

I really enjoyed it. I had read You Can't Buy Love previously so it was nice to have all the stories in one boxset. There was plenty of drama, humor and romance! The narration was great nd kept me entertained. The author did a great job with the character builds and plot. I look forward to reading more books from this author! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not sure what to think

I got a copy of this book set in exchange for my honest review.
The three books are stand alone, but are all based in Rutherford Hospital and follow three friends Sasha, Becca, and Jules as they find love. Sasha with Cal, Becca with Vincent, and Jules with Noah.
Sasha and Cal’s book was the best one. Her friends Becca and Jules were there for her and the story progressed well. Sasha fell into instalove with a guy she saw briefly 10 years ago and kept pining for ever after. Cal is a new doctor and she recognizes him as “the guy”. The hospital gossip mill is a bit ridiculous and some of the behavior of other people is very high school. Sasha ends up being accused of something she did not do and shockingly, Cal drops her like a hot potato. He comes around eventually, but I am not sure I would be as quick to forgive as Sasha was. This was a solid 4 star book. Maybe 4.5 stars.
The next book is Becca and Vincent. Becca is a bit extra. And that is her personality. Vincent is constantly hot and cold like he has a split personality. Turns out he has some reasons for that, but I am not sure that the zero communication approach worked for me. The book cut out abruptly and it turned out that the audio version is missing the last chapter entirely. I had to download the kindle version to get the ending. I felt like I was left to fall off a cliff otherwise. I emailed the publisher, so I think it will be fixed quickly. This was also a 4 star book.
The last book is what did me in. Jules, who was always so sweet, level headed, and rational, is a completely irrational creature in this book. She is full of rage, preconceived notions and nasty word spewing. Honestly, I have no idea what Noah saw in her except she was great in bed and they had awesome chemistry there. But he moved mountains and proved himself over and over and over again only to have her twist it all around in her head. She jumped to completely unsupported conclusions that left me wondering how she got there. And how she got where she was in life with her giant chip on her shoulder. There was nothing likable or redeeming about her. When Noah confessed that he loved her, I could only think that some guys may just like being treated as lower than dirt. And of course she threw it in his face. If I did not promise to write a review, I would have DNF’ed this book. As it was, she finally came around with about 1.5 left in the whole thing (and that included all the epilogues). That third book was a 2 star for me because Noah was a great guy and he carried it as much as he could.