First Do No Harm by Emily Smith
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books, 2020
- Genre: Romance, LGBTQ+
- Format: Paperback (eARC)
- Page Count: 240 pages
- My Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5)
Physician assistant Pierce Parker was not so lucky in the love department. Moving to Boston after an awful breakup, she went on random dates, trying to experience sparks again to no avail. But it was more than just sparks when the hospital’s new resident Dr. Cassidy Sullivan came along. As Cassidy’s past caught up with her, would the pair be strong enough to push through all obstacles?
I wish I could say I liked the story, but it was only okay. This medical romance did not work for me as well as I had hoped.
The best things about First Do No Harm were probably the bond between cousins Pierce Parker and Dr. Galen Burgess, and the friendship between their girlfriends, Dr. Cassidy Sullivan and Dr. Rowan Duncan. I liked how the cousin duo were very open with each other and able to discuss love and sex. It was also great that Rowan went out of her way to make sure her partner’s cousin and Cassidy were settling well in Boston. For more of Galen and Rowan, they had their own book All of Me which I have not read.
As for the writing, the word choices and conversations were a bit bland due to repetition. Subsequently, the characters suffered from the loss of individuality. First Do No Harm is not a long book, and I felt there were too many internal struggles in too few pages. Also, the rising action was relatively long, making the resolution abrupt and denouement too short. But I guess the too slow build was mainly caused by the plot line being a little all over the place. There were a lot of random scenes and that unfortunately made the book unmemorable.
That being said, I do see potential in this mildly enjoyable book, and I would gladly read future works by Smith. [8 Jun 2020]
I received an e-ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
