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A review by undrcvrbookahlc
The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake
5.0
**may contain mild spoilers** Typically I gravitate towards romance books and while this had a romance sub-plot, the main plot line of this book was Nora's journey through her medical education and experience working with her guardian, Dr. Croft. This story was told in the 1830s-ish I believe, where women were not allowed to practice medicine other than the occasional midwife and wise grandmother who knew how to help with small ailments. Nora was "adopted" by Dr. Croft at 8 years old when her entire family perished from cholera. She almost died as well but was nursed back to life by Dr. Croft and his housemaid, Mrs. Phipps. Nora proved to be extremely smart and worked her way up to assisting Dr. Croft on various surgeries (they ran a clinic out of his residence).
Many years later when Nora is in her early 20s, Dr. Croft hires Dr. Daniel Gibson to shadow and gain experience. This caused Nora to have to sit out for a few weeks while they determined whether or not Dr. Gibson would rat them out to the medical board. Once they surmised that he wouldn't and by total accident, he discovered that Nora was not just Dr. Croft's ward. We then get to see Nora and Dr. Gibson continue to learn and make medical breakthroughs together (to put it lightly).
While this brings them closer together, we don't really see a HEA, it's more of a HFN. Nora gets the amazing opportunity to go to an actual university to formally learn medicine and surgery. At one point, Daniel (they eventually drop the surnames and call each other by their first names), proposes to Nora in hopes that she will stay with him and skip going to university since he doesn't want to be separated from her for that long. Nora *wisely* says that this is something she needs to do and if his affections for her remain when she returns, he can ask again. Total girl power move- I loved it. The final scene is her leaving in the carriage to go to university.
As I mentioned, I typically read romance-heavy books and this was so refreshing to see a woman choose herself first and put her priorities first. I choose to believe that she went and received her degree and came back to Dr. Croft and Daniel and they wed and lived happily ever after, practicing medicine and performing groundbreaking surgeries. :)
Also - this cover is GORGEOUS. I absolutely love it!
Many years later when Nora is in her early 20s, Dr. Croft hires Dr. Daniel Gibson to shadow and gain experience. This caused Nora to have to sit out for a few weeks while they determined whether or not Dr. Gibson would rat them out to the medical board. Once they surmised that he wouldn't and by total accident, he discovered that Nora was not just Dr. Croft's ward. We then get to see Nora and Dr. Gibson continue to learn and make medical breakthroughs together (to put it lightly).
While this brings them closer together, we don't really see a HEA, it's more of a HFN. Nora gets the amazing opportunity to go to an actual university to formally learn medicine and surgery. At one point, Daniel (they eventually drop the surnames and call each other by their first names), proposes to Nora in hopes that she will stay with him and skip going to university since he doesn't want to be separated from her for that long. Nora *wisely* says that this is something she needs to do and if his affections for her remain when she returns, he can ask again. Total girl power move- I loved it. The final scene is her leaving in the carriage to go to university.
As I mentioned, I typically read romance-heavy books and this was so refreshing to see a woman choose herself first and put her priorities first. I choose to believe that she went and received her degree and came back to Dr. Croft and Daniel and they wed and lived happily ever after, practicing medicine and performing groundbreaking surgeries. :)
Also - this cover is GORGEOUS. I absolutely love it!