The NerdHerd Reads: By Your Side {by Candace Calvert}

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22798874-by-your-side

Title: By Your Side

Author: Candace Calvert

Series: Crisis Team, #1

Genre: Christian fiction

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: publisher

ER nurse Macy Wynn learned essential, gritty lessons in the California foster care system: land on your feet and trust no one. She’s finally located the fellow foster child she loves like a sister, but the girl’s in deep trouble. Macy’s determined to help, no matter what it takes. Her motto is to “make it happen” in any situation life throws at her—even when she butts heads with an idealistic cop.
Deputy Fletcher Holt believes in a higher plan, the fair outcome—and his ability to handle that by himself if necessary. Now he’s been yanked from Houston, his mother is battling cancer, and he’s attracted to a strong-willed nurse who could be the target of a brutal sniper.
When everything goes wrong, where do they put their trust?

Last year, in my review of Life Support, I mentioned how I wanted Calvert's next series to start with Fletcher. And guys IT HAPPENED, I was so excited for this like you don't even know. And I am so glad that this story held up to my (probably high) expectations.

Fletcher has moved away from his home in Houston, to take care of his mother in California. Fletcher needs to move on from the girl he thinks he loves in Houston (whom you might remember from Life Support), but his mother's illness is also tearing at him. Being a cop, he is used to taking care of everyone and everything. Until he meets Macy Wynn, an ER nurse, who doesn't take anything from anyone. She's grown up hardened, and trusts no one.

I think what I love most about Calvert's books are the relationships between the characters. Not just the romantic ones (although thankfully, no insta-love here), but also between Fletcher and his mom, Macy and her fellow ER nurses, even the POV's we get from the chaplains. We get viewpoints from multiple characters, including the sniper, and I love how that ties together.

I also love how Macy and Fletcher have this sort of sweet buildup to their relationship. You get to know each of them, and I loved them together. They both had their issues they had to work through, but I felt as if it were more realistic.

And of course, the book wasn't just about their romance. There was a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding the story, and of course I love the parts in the ER, which were very well explained and gave you a sense of actually being in there. Of course, some parts may seem predictable, including the identity of the sniper before it's revealed, but all in all, this was a great story and I can't wait to see how Calvert continues this series.
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