Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Doctor Next Door (Hometown Heroes, Book 2)

Rate this book
The Doctor Next Door by Marta Perry released on May 25, 2000 is available now for purchase.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

8 people are currently reading
102 people want to read

About the author

Marta Perry

201 books771 followers
Marta Perry is a Pennsylvania-based author of over 35 novels, many of them inspirational romances. She uses her rural Pennsylvania life and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in writing her books, especially in her Pleasant Valley Amish series for Berkley Books and her new Amish-set suspense series for HQN Books.

Marta and her husband live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a quiet central Pennsylvania valley. They have three grown children and six beautiful grandchildren, and when she's not busy writing her next book, she's usually trying to keep up with her gardening, baking for church events, or visiting those beautiful grandkids.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
24 (36%)
4 stars
17 (25%)
3 stars
20 (30%)
2 stars
5 (7%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
887 reviews
May 10, 2013
Dr. Brett Elliott returns to sleepy Bedford Creek, PA, to help out his mentor, Doc Overton, who is running the Bedford Creek Clinic, but who also has some unresolved health issues. Brett runs into Rebecca Forrester, his high school girlfriend’s younger sister and discovers that she’s become a medical assistant (or nurse, the book isn’t clear on this). Rebecca wants Brett to stay to run the clinic, but Brett wants to go to Chicago on a surgical fellowship and pursue medicine there.

The tired trope of “life in a small town is better than life in a big city” is overplayed here. Brett declares his love for Rebecca and asks her to follow him to Chicago; she refuses. For most sane men, that would be enough to send them packing to look for someone who’s willing to compromise in a relationship and who’s willing to try to work things out. I don’t get this attitude of hers; she’s wanted Brett for years and, when he finally falls for her, she rejects him? That’s a bit unrealistic.

Also, she holds Brett to a promise he made when he was five years old. Really? She declares her love for him at age five, he declares that he’s going to be a doctor when he grows up, and years later, she really is going to hold him to this?

Mitch Donovan and Anne Morden (from “Desperately Seeking Dad”, the first book in the miniseries) are mentioned here, as their wedding day draws closer. The book is okay, but Rebecca’s character is annoying: she hides the fact that Doc Overton has been having health problems. There’s a word for that: lying. Christians aren’t supposed to do that. Also, ever heard of medical malpractice? Brett’s friend Alex refuses medical treatment for an old injury, and Rebecca’s niece, Kristie, suffers a life-threatening allergic reaction.

The characters are, for the most part, likable, with the exception of Rebecca. Her stubbornness gets irritating after a while. We’re meant to think she’s responsible, but she comes off as wanting to be a martyr instead. “I just know I have to stay, no matter what the cost.” This is Rebecca’s response to Brett when he asks her to go to Chicago. At that point, I would have left.
Profile Image for Cynthia Williams.
6 reviews
April 3, 2023
Marta Perry doesn't disappoint!

I've read numerous books by this author. Always good reads. Read this one as a refresher for the third in the Hometown Heroes series (pretty sure I've read all 4 books, but really don't remember). I've read so much over so many years, it's hard to keep track of the older ones sometimes. Would definitely recommend anything by this author, regardless of how one may feel about faith and Christianity. It's really a change of pace to pick up a book and be able to read it without having sex always come into it (Don't get me wrong, I read those books too, and have no problems enjoying the "plot lines", but sometimes you just need something different, and this type of story applies). Very easy, heartwarming read. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.