Not Quite Enough

This was the third installment in the Not Quite series, and hopefully not the last. Monica Mann is a registered nurse who works the ER shift at her local hospital. Growing restless with her surroundings, Monica signs up to be on call with Nurses without Borders. When an Earthquake and then Tsunami strike Jamaica, Monica gets called in to go help. Her boss is not pleased that she will be losing a nurse, and gives Monica a hard time about her upcoming volunteer relief work.Once in Jamaica, Monica meets Trent Fairchild, who is the man who pilots the helicopter that takes Monica and her co-worker, Dr. Walt Eddy and another nurse to where the main hospital is located, that because of the Tsunami, is unreachable by roads. Monica is terrified of heights, so Trent flirts with her to keep her mind occupied on anything but her surroundings. Monica, whose nickname back home is Ice Queen, finds Trent charming and cute. But before she can get to know him better, he's back in the air and she is surrounded by the sick and dying.After being at the main hospital for 24 hours, Monica is told that she is needed at a clinic on another part of the island and that Trent will be by to pick her up and take her there. Both are eager to see each other again, and when their mild flirting turns a little bit more serious, Monica begins to panic. Having just broken up with her boyfriend before she left California because he was asking her friends about what type of engagement ring she would like, and Monica wasn't as into him as he was to her, Monica makes sure to let Trent know that this will not be a permanent thing. Especially because he lives in Jamaica.When the pair arrive at the new clinic, to Monica's horror, they find that the building is falling down, there is a secretary who is doing triage, one nurse helping where she can, and one doctor. There is no order of semblance, and Monica quickly enlists all able bodies, Trent included in helping her to organize the patients by minor medical attention needed to get a body bag.When Monica finally gets a day off to rest because more help has finally arrived, she agrees to go back to Trent's house to get some much needed sleep and a decent shower. When Monica awakes 13 hours later, Trent and Monica go for a picnic in a secluded area of the beach near his house. WHile the two are in a cave finally getting down to business, another Earthquake hits, and traps the pair in the cave, with a rock crushing Monica's leg underneath.Meanwhile back at her job, Monica is on the verge of being fired because one of the people she lined up to cover her shift called in sick, and there was no one there to replace her. Since her boss already had it out for her, this just added another opportunity to fire Monica.When the pair are finally rescued thanks in part to Jessie, Monica's sister realizing that she can track her sister's cell phone, Monica is now deathly ill and in dire need of medical attention. She is whisked away to a Miami hospital and Trent follows later. When Trent goes to visit Monica, a huge misunderstanding happens, and Trent leaves. Monica, who was unconscious during his visit and didn't know about the misunderstanding doesn't understand why Trent would leave the hospital without saying goodbye. While Monica knew their fling wouldn't last, a goodbye wouldn't have killed either one of them.Months later, Monica is at home fighting for her job, which has been terminated and her license revoked due to her using the disaster as a free ticket to go visit her boyfriend, or so say the charges against her. Trent is called in by Jack, her brother in law to help clear her name. When the pair meet up again, it isn't love at first sight, instead, Monica lays into him and walks away. Trent spends the next few days trying to make everything up to her.I have to say that while this wasn't my favorite book in the series, it has my utmost respect. What nurses go through in order to save their patients is downright heroic. Ms. Bybee is a former nurse, so seeing firsthand what nurses go through in the trenches is awesome. Running on very little sleep and food, these nurses fight like hell to save their patients, all the while pushing aside their own feelings on how things will turn out in order to keep the families thinking positively, even if the outcome is clearly not going to be a good one.Both characters were very well developed and I loved that the characters from the other two books were included and their stories advanced. What I would have liked more of was the romance part! That part felt rushed. I felt like there was very little slow build up of the romance, then suddenly they were together, then apart, then....I won't spoil the ending!I do hope there is a continuation of this series, because I love the characters, and I love Ms. Bybee's writing style.

Again CB has delivered a riveting story. I could almost feel I was in the midst of the earth quake/Tsunami. Can't wait to start the next book in this series. Well done CB!!!!

Catherine Bybee delivers another great story following in the footsteps of the three previous stories. I happened to read the last story first. Which you can. But it's best to read all six stories in order as each one tells a different story. Building on the one before.

Catherine Bybee is a very talented lady. Once you start a book you are compelled to eat it up like a starved person at a free buffet. Do yourself a favor, discover her books. You will be glad you did.

Enjoyed the book from the beginning all the way through to the end. Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Definitely getting into this series!! It’s a great series!! Finished this book in a day!! Definitely recommend this author and this series!!

Not Quite Enough is the third book in the Not Quite Series. It can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book. The characters from books 1 & 2 are briefly in this book. This book had more depth of character, more emotional connection and was by far the best of the series so far.Monica Mann is the little sister of Jessie in book 1. She has finished her nursing degree and is working as a nurse in the emergency room. A doctor friend, Walt, approaches her about doing borderless nurses, a group who helps with disaster relief. He works with the doctors without borders group.Monica goes to Florida for training for a couple weeks to be prepared to help borderless nurses. When a tsunami hits Jamaica, the doctors and nurses are mobilized to help. When the land, they meet the disaster relief coordinator and Trent "barefoot" Fairchild who shuttled them by helicopter to makeshift clinics to help those in need.A good portion of this book is about disaster relief, though not in too graphic detail. There is romance, but it is sort of sprinkled through what needs to be done for those injured or dying. Trent takes Monica to a remote clinic where the doctor hasn't been seen since the tsunami hit. Monica drafts Trent to stay and help with a couple other local people. They treat those they can and Trent flies the stabilized people who need more attention back to the doctors at the main clinic.There are a few plot twists toward the end and you find yourself hoping Monica and Trent get their happy ending.

I just LOVE how Catherine plays these stories into each other! You get hooked on one character story, wonder about the others and then it blossoms into another characters story..brilliant! Just when you wonder, the story unfolds!

I found myself gripped by this simple romance novel primarily because of the author's excellent descriptions of nursing and the emergency conditions after an earthquake. It felt really realistic and provided a great background to this romance. I thought that the consequences of her actions which Monica faced when back in the USA sounded believable although I obviously don't understand American employment law and licensing arrangements for medical staff. There was a surprising amount of plot and detail here for a short novel.The novel is set mostly in Jamaica. I didn't really get a feel for the island and its landscape, although I understand that the beaches are lovely. It could really have been set in any earthquake location and I think that the author missed out in introducing us to the people and the island. The American visitors are the main focus of the story with the island inhabitants mainly being portrayed as victims and helpless.Monica was a delightful character. She appeared in previous books in this series but you don't have to have read them to understand this one - it stands very much on its own. She is independent and strong-willed but in a believable way. She bears up well under the problems she faces and she acts in character all the way through. Trent was a suitable match for her although I did think that he took his survivor guilt a little too far and nearly wrecked his new relationship. Just because one relationship ends badly doesn't mean that they all will and his overreaction was rightly not easily forgiven by Monica. The time they spend alone in the middle of the book is very well done and although I obviously knew that it would all turn out OK in the end there was a fair amount of tension.This is a light and easy read but the detail that the author has put into the earthquake scenario,the medical world she conjours up and the characterisation of Monica make it an excellent example of the genre. I enjoyed it a lot.

Monica was an ER nurse and was asked got caught join Nurses without borders because she was brilliant at her job. An earthquake in Jamaica and she was on her way. She met Trent the helicopter pilot who flew her to the main hospital and then further south to a small clinic. The work was exhausting and she persuaded Trent to stay and help. They got caught in a rock slide when another earthquake struck and they were lucky to be found. Trent walked away when he thought she was involved with someone else. Well written story

Monica Mann is someone who enjoys a relationship, but doesn’t wish to settle. She is enjoying her job as a nurse in the trauma unit in an American hospital, when she is asked to join a team heading to Jamaca to help with the disaster caused by a recent earthquake. There Monica meets a helecopter pilot who she niknames 'Barefoot' as he flys his chopper with no shoes. His real name is Trent and he too has an attraction for Monica, but due to past history neither of them want to commit. Drama happens to them in the shape of another mini earthquake, and Monica has to be flown back to the US. Trent realises he must follow her. Not my best read, but I wanted to know how it all turned out. Quite predictable really!

This is the third in the series of Not Quites, it features Monica, a character introduced in the first in the series as a sister of Jessie. But the novel can be read without having read the first two in the series (although It is a spoiler for the other ones if you do). As a series you expect it to follow a formula but it has some surprises and excitement. The lead characters, Monica and Trent, are we developed, she's beautiful and he's gorgeous as you would expect from a romance, but they have flaws and are human. The story is both poignant and exciting, I found the story moving.

I loved this book as a stand-alone book - but even better as the last in the ltrilogy of 'Not Quite' books. It had all the usual from this authour - mutual attraction, a bit of lust, love and misunderstanding but eventually all was well. What was also good was the way that the work of Borderless Nurses and Doctors was wound into the story. I don't know if we have something like that in the UK but it certainly added an extra dimension, a touch of reality without too much gore, to the storyline. I love the Cinderella type storyline - and it's nicely revealed to the reader.It's a feel good book!