An ambitious doctor with a heart of gold must choose between love and career in Jacobs’ debut contemporary romance novel.

Pediatrician Alex Wildeis in Botswana to treat sick children at a hospital with limited resources. One night, at a bar with her friend Rox Clarke, she meets the handsome Ian Devall, to whom she feels an intense attraction; he asks her what she wants and then informs her that she desires “an epic love story…a love that is timeless…immortal.” The encounter leaves Alex unsettled. Ian, as it happens, is the head of a foundation that’s offering a grant that could help her hospital build a pediatric intensive care unit. As she tries to convince Ian of the hospital’s worthiness, he comes across as cold and cynical, but she feels an undeniable connection. At a party, Alex’s boss announces that they’ve received the grant; then Ian asks Alex out, telling her he wants her to get to know the real him. He turns out to have a reputation as a playboy, but Alex agrees to spend a few days with him in Kalahari. They grow closer, both physically and emotionally, but her defenses, formed during a traumatic childhood, keep her from getting too close. Ian sweeps her off to Paris, London, LA, and Alex’s home in Philadelphia, and she finds herself falling for him. Later, she begins to have doubts, in part because she can’t figure out how she fits into Ian’s glamorous life. The relationship between Alex and Ian is tense and compelling, but where the novel really shines is in its evocative descriptions of places that the couple visit, from the pediatric unit of the Botswana hospital (“The interns were scattered about the unit…while the nurses, clad in navy and white uniforms, performed their daily tasks”) to the glittering streets of Paris (“the Eiffel tower boldly soaring above the city streets, the dome of the Sacré-Cœur in the distance”). Alex’s determination to save children in need highlights how good she is at her job and how much it means to her, and Jacobs also provides plenty of medical details to keep the stakes high.

An exciting series starter with an engaging central relationship.