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Career Girl
in the Country
Fiona Lowe
Table of Contents
Praise for Fiona Lowe:
‘MIRACLE: TWIN BABIES is a wonderful story, full
of heart, pathos and humour, that will make you laugh and cry. Fiona Lowe never fails to write enchanting, heartwarming and realistic Medical™ Romances, with wonderful three-dimensional characters you’d love to know (and, in the case of her heroes, love to love!). A spellbinding and emotional tale. Talented Australian author Fiona Lowe has penned another enjoyable romantic tale that will make your heart sing!’
—Cataromance.com
Dear Reader
Poppy Stanfield is a successful surgeon who’s on the cusp of being made Chief of Surgery: her ultimate goal and everything she’s spent years working towards. So when she’s suddenly sent to Bundallagong not only does she think she has landed on Mars, she thinks life as she knows it has ended too. All she can see is plains and red dust, and not even the sparkling Indian Ocean is enough to win her over. From the first moment she steps onto Bundallagong soil she is making plans to leave.
But sometimes what we think is the worst thing possible turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. Poppy has no clue that this is going to be her story, and she’s not quick to realise it either as she rails against everything Bundallagong throws at her.
Dr Matt Albright had the perfect life until it was stolen from him, and now he doesn’t care where he lives or who lives with him—which is why he’s totally ignoring the goanna that has moved into his roof! He goes to work each day and goes through the motions of living, hating that the town he loves now walks on eggshells around him. When he first meets Poppy all he can see is a starchy, uptight woman who is going to drive him absolutely spare.
The isolation of the Outback, with its fiery heat, will either send you mad or heal you; I’ll let you read on to find out what is in store for Poppy and Matt!?
I hope you enjoy their story! For photos of the area that inspired the story, head to my website at www.fionalowe.com I love to chat to my readers, and you can also find me at Facebook (Fiona Lowe author), Twitter, and at eharlequin’s Medical Romance Authors’ blog or via my website. I’d love to hear from you!
Happy reading!
Love
Fiona x
About the Author
Always an avid reader, FIONA LOWE decided to combine her love of romance with her interest in all things medical, so writing Medical™ Romance was an obvious choice! She lives in a seaside town in southern Australia, where she juggles writing, reading, working and raising two gorgeous sons with the support of her own real-life hero!
Dedication
To Sandra, with many thanks for keeping us neat and tidy!
CHAPTER ONE
FEMALE SURGEON TAKES BAMPTON AWARD
Ms Stanfield’s meteoric rise in the male-dominated field of surgery was recognised last week. Journal’s ‘on the ground’ photographer snapped Ms Stanfield wearing last season’s black suit (right), and we’re left wondering if rather than taking the ‘Old Boys’ Club’ by storm she’s actually joined it. Rumour has it she’s in negotiations with two prestigious hospitals for Chief of Surgery.
POPPY STANFIELD’S 6:00 a.m. sip of Saturday coffee turned bitter in her mouth as she read the five-line article on the back page of the Perth newspaper. She didn’t give a damn about the bitchy comment on her cinch-waisted black suit but how the hell had the gossip columnist found out about the job interviews? One job interview especially—the one she’d very carefully and deliberately kept quiet because it was hard enough being female in this business, let alone having the temerity to want a top job. A top job she was determined to get one way or another, which was why she’d applied for the post of Chief of Surgery at Southgate as well as Perth City, the hospital she currently worked for.
And now ‘one way’ was her only remaining option.
Her disappointed gaze caught sight of the envelope with the Southgate crest that had arrived yesterday containing a letter with the words ‘unsuccessful candidate’. She hadn’t read past them because there’d been no point. Poppy Stanfield didn’t lose, she just regrouped and planned a new strategy. It would have been a huge coup to land the Southgate job ahead of the Perth City one, but the interview panel had been hostile from the moment she’d walked in.
The Bampton win had ruffled more than a few feathers in surgical ranks, and the media attention had been unexpected. The memory of the ditzy and pen-less journalist, with hair flying, who’d arrived late to interview her, sent a sliver of irritation down her spine. Poppy reread the article and the bald, incriminating words. Hell, why hadn’t she spent more time with the journalist instead of rushing through the interview?
The faint echo of mocking laughter sounded deep down inside her. You spend all your time at work and when have you ever really spent time with anyone?