The Best Medicine by Elizabeth Hayley

Releasing: June 2, 2015

The first novel in a sparkling and sexy new contemporary romance series about four best friends looking for love in all the right places—and the one woman who discovers that it takes more than an impeccable bedside manner to make dreams come true…

Lauren Hastings is finally ready to enter the real world. At twenty-six, she’s about to get her master’s in psychology, and she’s well on her way to beginning the career of her dreams—until she suffers public humiliation and has to endure something she thought she’d never have to deal with again: a part-time job.

A gig at Trinity Hospital isn’t exactly Lauren’s definition of a good time, but Dr. Scott Jacobs quickly changes her mind. He’s straight-up gorgeous, and he always gets what he wants. And that includes Lauren. It’s an ideal arrangement for both of them. No strings. Just fun—at least at first.

But feelings quickly begin to run deeper than either Lauren or Scott is willing to admit, causing issues neither of them want to confront. After all, who wants to risk the perfect relationship on something as terrifying, as messy, and as unpredictable as love?

5 PHENOMENAL STARS

When I sat down to read The Best Medicine by Elizabeth Hayley I knew that I should probably expect some hysterical laugh out loud moments and lines, some searing hot moments filled to the brim with some serious heat, and characters that would engage the heck out of me because of how phenomenally these authors write.

Well, The Best Medicine gave me all of that, and more.

It gave me more humor and wit that had one seriously big smile on my face. (My jaw actually kind of hurt after reading this book because of how much I was laughing and smiling while reading. Seriously.) It gave me more heat and fire and connection between these two characters than I knew what to do with, and that just amplified every single thing they shared in this outstanding book. It also gave me two dynamic, headstrong, and enrapturing characters that I immensely enjoyed getting to know over the course of this book.

Basically, The Best Medicine gave me a whole lot of incredible things, and it is most assuredly one of my top reads for the year.

I loved this book. Every wonderful aspect of it was amazing, and outstandingly written, and just fanfreakingtastic. What can I say? I really, really loved this book.

I LOVED, and I mean loved Scott and Lauren’s story. I felt connected to it while reading. I loved getting to experience this story with them, through both of their eyes, as it allowed me to feel so connected to them and what was happening.

I felt what they felt. I thought what they thought. I experienced the same things they experienced. I laughed at the same things they did, blushed probably a tad more than they actually did, and I sure as hell felt the insanely hot connection between these two. I so totally understood them too. I got their hesitations, their wonderings, their anger, their passion, their connection, their longing, their insecurities. I got it all. Every single wondrous and unforgettable little bit.

Experiencing all of that with these two remarkable characters was possible because of the extraordinary writing of Elizabeth Hayley. Their writing is seamless and fresh and witty, and just allows you to get right into the thick of this story with these characters. Their writing gives you the chance to get to know these characters, layer by thoughtfully crafted layer, and you get the phenomenal opportunity to understand and love them more the deeper you get into their story.

Elizabeth Hayley’s writing gives you the opportunity to fully experience what you’re reading, and there is truly nothing better than that. It probably also helps that this book, like their others is brimming with more charm, humor, sarcasm, and the best kind of ridiculousness than you can shake a stick at.

One thing that Elizabeth Hayley most certainly knows how to do, is create unique and vibrant characters that I love and am practically chomping at the bit to get to know. Case in point: Scott and Lauren. (And ALL OF THEIR FRIENDS!)

Lauren’s character was spirited and vibrant in the most fantastic ways. That girl is real, and honest, and tells it like it is. I had mad respect for her because of that. She’s fiercely determined and sharp as a tack too. She’s also someone who can appreciate being completely ridiculous, and is spontaneous in the best possible ways. I especially loved how thoughtful she was, and how that was exemplified so fantastically throughout this book. Let me tell you, that girl is with it. The more I got to know her character, the more I loved her and wanted to be friends with her. And all of her friends for that matter.

I loved that as the story progressed and I got to know Lauren’s character more, I got to understand more of her past and her personality. Like all of the characters in this book, Lauren has many thoughtfully written layers to her, and it was nothing short of phenomenal to learn more about her, her past, and her choices and the vulnerabilities that came with them. Getting to know her on that level had my heart going to her repeatedly, and just reiterated over and over again how exceptional of a character she was.

Did I mention she’s hysterical, and witty, and kind of the best? Because she’s all that and more. I truly heart that girl something fierce.

Now Scott’s character was one that I was instantly pulled into. There’s definitely a level of cockiness to him and that man is certainly very stubborn, but oh is he charming. He’s also insanely good to imagine in a lab coat. Hot doctor. Need I say more? He is a man who gets what he wants, and he’s definitely got a strong determined side to him. Underneath all of that though is a man with a truly good heart who isn’t looking for any kind of commitment. He likes to keep people at a distant, especially those of the female persuasion, but Lauren gets to him in such a way that brings out so many things about Scott’s dynamic character.

What I think I liked most about Scott was that there was much more to him than initially meets the eye. Scott hides behind a lot of things, and it was simply outstanding to see, learn, and experience the reasoning behind why he made the choices he did. You really get to know a lot more about his past, and why things are the way they are with him. As much as I sometimes wish I could’ve reached in and shook his character for the nonsense he thought and did, because of how his past and feelings are so superbly written, I just got it and him. I knew and understood his character, and exploring those layers of him was just fantastic because it allowed him to feel so immensely real.

Did I mention he’s a really good looking doctor who is bound and determined to melt your heart? And something else for that matter… That man has full on McDreamy status with me.

Lauren and Scott’s relationship, or non-relationship if you ask them, was superb. It had the perfect amount of heat and passion and sexiness to it. These two characters are practically firecrackers together, and when they come together things get sparkly, insanely hot, and explosive within a matter of seconds. All of that chemistry and pull towards one another just heightened everything they shared, and pulled me more into their story.

Reading these two try and figure out what in the world they had going and where it was all possibly headed or not headed was fantastic. Elizabeth Hayley truly captures every single aspect and feeling that goes along with these two trying to figure all of that out. Those two also know their way around some good banter, and they can really go at it with one another, but that’s what just makes them so spectacular.

The Best Medicine is a book that not only gave me Lauren and Scott, but it also gave me the fabulous distinctive people that came with them, aka their friends and family members. Each of those little gems were engaging, and fun, and had me loving their unique personalities. They had me laughing out loud, feeling like I was part of a really cool group of authentic and seriously entertaining people, and they just helped glue every fabulous part of this story together. I for one cannot wait to spend more time getting to know all of them better as this series continues.

Lauren and Scott’s story in The Best Medicine is a lot of things. It’s funny and charming with the right amount of heat that is balanced superbly with a thoughtfully crafted story that just doesn’t quit. In this book Elizabeth Hayley gives you a story with so many incredible aspects to it. The way all of the tremendously well written pieces of these remarkable characters and their outstanding story comes together will just leave you in complete elation because of what it gives you and allows you to experience.

All those feelings. All those heated and passion filled moments. All that realness. All that fun. All those exceptionally written layers.

You get to experience it all, and that’s just part of what makes this book an exceptional read.

The writing duo that is Elizabeth Hayley are two of my favorite authors for a reason. They give you everything in one amazing package. Exceptional writing and storytelling, characters that are just about every positive adjective under the sun, and a reading experience that allows you to escape and fall hopelessly in love with the world and people they’ve so wonderfully created.

The Best Medicine is guaranteed to give you so many magnificent things, but most of all, it will give you a book that will give you one helluva reading experience that you truly won’t want to have end.

And did I also happen to mention that there’s a hot doctor in this book?…