North Country Nurse

Lovely young Mary Loring, her nurse’s training behind her, came home to the north country for two reasons–one, to help the people in this vast wilderness land; the other, locked in her heart, to work with young Dr. Ken Shannon who was coming back here to start his practice.

But when Ken stepped off the plane, beside him was a beautiful, titian-haired bride. Now Mary wanted only to escape — from this man she could never have, from her beloved north country that would always remind her of him.

It took a startling confession from Ken, and a danger-fulled mercy flight with a devil-may-care pilot named Eddie Garrett, to show Mary that she didn’t have to run away–that a girl doesn’t always know the secrets of her own heart…

There’s a lot to love about this book. First, there’s the cover, with Nurse Mary Loring’s crisp white uniform seemingly unaffected by the ash and soot spewing out of the blazing inferno behind her.

Second, the blurb on the back, which gets extra points for the use of the term “titian-haired bride.” (“Titian,” by the way, means “bright golden auburn.” I had to look it up. And let me tell you, it’s a sad day when can’t read the blurb on the back of a romance novel without having to break out the OED.)

But the absolute best thing about this story of a woman who has dedicated her entire life to improving the health and well-being of others is that deep within its nicotine-stained pages is a full-page foldout advertisement for cancer sticks.

True Cigarette Ad: Doesn't It All Add Up To True?