Come Closer by Brenda Rothert
Sometimes appearances deceive. Take me, for instance. I look like a respectable doctor with his shit together, but the rural Montana mental hospital I work at is actually a sanctuary from my demons. At just thirty-five years old, I’ve already failed on an epic scale. Treating patients at Hawthorne Hill is part of my atonement.
I’ve found peace when a new patient turns me inside out. Allison Cole is a beautiful, haunted survivor who fell into silence after witnessing a murder. But even without words, I’m drawn to her. The closer we get, the more I’m tempted to cross my professional boundaries and give in to my desire.
Soon I find myself in a desperate race to put the pieces of Allison’s silence together. Her life becomes inextricably entwined with mine as I fight to save the second chance I never thought I’d have. I’ll break whatever rules I have to in order to protect this woman who’s been to hell and back. For her, I’ll do harm.
Caroline's Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This yearning doesn’t come so much from my body as from my soul. No man has ever looked at me this way – with such deep longing to have me just as I am.”
Allison Cole saw someone killed right in front of her and then survived an attempted strangulation, herself. She’s not spoken one word since this horrific trauma and ends up being admitted to Hawthorne Hill Mental Hospital. It is not clear for a while as to whether Allison is physically unable to speak or just chooses not to. She is the sole witness to the murder case and it can’t progress as she refuses to give evidence.
“Though I haven’t outwardly crossed a line with her, I have in my heart.”
Daniel Delgado is chief physician at Hawthorne, utilising his compassionate nature and innate understanding of people to make his job rewarding. He’s fighting his own demons but has managed to live a fairly normal life for the past two years. Due to the isolated, rural location of the hospital, he finds a measure of peace from a past that haunts him. The new patient fascinates him. She’s very closed off with her reluctance to socialise or communicate, but there’s something about her that draws him in, and when Daniel finally makes a communication breakthrough of sorts, a tentative connection is forged between them.
“In another life, we could have more than this….I’d be her comfort, and she’d be my salvation.”
This story was quite slow burn as Daniel and Allison are forced to remain apart due their doctor/patient relationship. However, as the weeks and months progress, trust is built up between them, as they find common ground to bond over. I thought the growth in their connection was touching, heartfelt, and symbiotic. They needed one another to heal. I felt that Daniel’s desire for her was almost a tangible thing. When it becomes clear that Allison’s life is in danger, the pace really picks up, and I pretty much galloped my way to the end!
This story was painful (as both Allison and Daniel deal with their pasts), heartwarming (as two broken people fall in love), suspenseful (as danger abounds), and ultimately life-affirming, as Allison accepts that life goes on and there is happiness after the darkness. I really loved the twisty plot with one particularly stunning revelation! I felt completely blindsided, as I never saw it coming. The setting for the story sounded magnificent and the characters living in the hospital were a colourful, fascinating bunch.
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