Gotta Get Next to You

Strong-willed Andrea Noble has her work cut out for her when she returns home to Louisiana and agrees to be the director of the sloppily managed Bayou Blue Public Health Clinic. Nine years of working in Chicago's inner-city clinics, a bitter divorce and a strained relationship with her parents have taken their toll on the beautiful, biracial nurse, and she's determined to regroup and leave her bad memories behind. Although Andrea is ready to take on the momentous task of single-handedly saving the parish's badly neglected medical facility, she finds herself ill-prepared to deal with the ever-present and mysterious Jamal Turner, a ""smiling tower of testosterone"" who is serving as the clinic's temporary computer consultant. A well-developed subplot involving a co-worker's involvement with a violent gang and a drug pilfering operation intensifies the romantic tension between Jamal and Andrea as the two unite to save the troubled youth. In the process, Andrea discovers some hidden truths about Jamal that threaten to hinder their burgeoning relationship. A clever mix of small-town politics, deception and danger, Emery's (After All, etc.) saucy and suspenseful read should please her growing number of fans. (May 8)