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Surgeon Simon Bradley prefers the sterility of the hospital to the messiness of real life, especially when real life includes an accident-prone mutt and a woman whose kisses make him want what he knows he can’t have. Scarred since childhood, he avoids emotional entanglement by moving from place to place to heal children who need his skillful touch. Can his growing feelings for Montana lead him to find a home in Fool’s Gold, or will he walk away, taking her broken heart with him?
Susan Mallery is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction novels with heart and humor. Her funny and sexy family stories have been named to Booklist's Top 10 Romance Novels lists of 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Mallery's gift for writing humor and tenderness make all her books true gems. -Romantic Times
Romance novels don’t get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor and superb storytelling. -Booklist
Montana Hendrix's perfectly good morning was thwarted by a hot dog, a four-year-old boy and a Lab and golden retriever mix named Fluffy.
Things had started out well enough. Montana had been determined to get the nearly a year old dog into a therapy-dog training program. Sure, Fluffy was exuberant and clumsy, with a habit of eating anything and simply being too happy, but she had a huge heart. If she was, in simple terms, a screwup, Montana refused to hold that against her. Montana knew what it was like to fail to meet her potential, to always feel she wasn't good enough. She'd made a career out of it. Fluffy was not going to suffer the way she had. And even if she was projecting a little too much on to an innocent dog, well, sometimes that happened.
So there she was, on a beautiful Fool's Gold summer morning, walking Fluffy or, rather, being walked by Fluffy.
"Think calm," Montana, holding firmly on to the leash, told the dog. "Therapy dogs are calm. Therapy dogs understand restraint."
Fluffy gave her a doggie grin, then nearly knocked over a trash can with a sweep of her ever-moving tail. Restraint wasn't in Fluffy's vocabulary. She was barely calm in her sleep.
Later Montana would tell herself she should have seen it coming. This particular morning was the first weekend after school had let out and there was a festival to celebrate. Street vendors had been setting up for days. Although it was early, the smell of hot dogs and barbecue filled the air. The sidewalks were crowded and Fluffy kept pulling toward the children playing in the park. Her expression was clear—she wanted to be playing, too.
Up ahead, a mother paid for a hot dog. Her young son took it eagerly, but before he took a bite, he spotted Fluffy. The boy grinned at Fluffy and held out the food. At that exact moment, Montana was distracted by the latest display in Morgan's Bookstore and accidentally loosened her grip. Fluffy lunged, the leash slipped and that was when the trouble started.
Offering a hot dog from a distance might have seemed like a good idea until a ninety-pound dog came barreling toward the little boy. He shrieked, dropped the hot dog and ran behind his mother. The poor woman had missed the beginning of the encounter. All she saw was a crazy-looking dog headed right for her and her son. She screamed.
Montana started after Fluffy, yelling for her to stop. But it was as effective as telling the earth to slow down its rotation.
The mother scooped up her little boy and ducked behind a lemonade stand. Fluffy picked up the hot dog without breaking stride and swallowed it in one gulp, then kept on going. Apparently freedom called.
Montana hurried after her, the new summer sandals she'd bought the week before cutting into her feet. She knew she had to get Fluffy. The dog was sweet, but not very well trained. Montana's boss, Max Thurman, had made it clear that Fluffy was not therapy-dog material. If word of today's disaster reached him, he would insist the dog leave the program. Montana couldn't stand for that to happen.
Fluffy was a lot faster than she was and quickly ran out of sight. Montana followed the sound of shrieks and screams, making her way through the streets of the town, dodging a peanut cart and narrowly missing a close encounter with two guys on bikes. She turned a corner just in time to see a tail disappearing through the automatic doors of a tall building.
"No," Montana breathed, staring up at the hospital. "Not there. Anywhere but there."
She raced forward, inwardly cringing at the thought of what Fluffy could do in a place like that. Big puppy feet on slippery floors were not a happy combination. She ran up the six steps leading to the entrance and dashed inside only to find a trail of havoc marking the way.
A supply cart was pushed against the wall. Linens spilled onto the floor. A little girl in a wheelchair grinned and pointed down the hall.
Montana got to the bank of elevators only to find several people willing to tell her that yes, a dog had gotten on. She watched the light panel to see an elevator had stopped on the fourth floor, then jumped in the next one and rode up.
The doors opened to the sound of screams. A chair lay on its side. More linens were scattered on the floor, along with a couple of charts. Up ahead double doors marked the entrance to the burn unit. Various signs explained what could and couldn't enter that part of the hospital. A joyous bark told her Fluffy had violated every single posted rule.
Not knowing what else to do, Montana followed the sound and pushed through the doors. Up ahead several nurses were trying to corral the happy dog while Fluffy did her best to lick all of them at the same time. When Montana called her, the dog turned and raced toward her. Just as a doctor walked out of a nearby room.
Fluffy did her best to stop. Montana saw her puppy paws scramble as the dog tried to slow. But she couldn't get traction on the floor. She started to slide, her butt went down, her front paws braced and then she was zipping along in a sitting position. She plowed directly into the doctor, sending him tumbling into Montana.
The doctor was about six inches taller and a whole lot heavier than Montana. His shoulder hit her chest, knocking the air out of her. They sailed across the floor, flying a few feet before stopping against the very hard floor, his body slamming into hers.
Montana lay there, dazed. She couldn't breathe.
All she felt was dead weight on top of her and a warm tongue licking her bare ankle.
The man got off her and knelt beside her.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded.
She shook her head, then managed to gasp in air. Fluffy moved closer and sat down, looking calm and well behaved. A trick Montana wasn't going to fall for.
The man reached for her. He ran his large, long-fingered hands up and down her legs and arms, then felt the back of her head. His touch was impersonal, but it was the most action she'd had in months. Before she could figure out if she liked it, she looked at his face.
He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. eyes the color of green smoke, fringed by dark lashes. A perfect mouth, with a strong jaw. His cheekbone—
"She's fine," he said, turning to speak with someone behind him.
When he shifted his head she saw the other side of his face. Thick red scars grew from his shirt collar, along the side of his neck to his left jaw and cheek. They spiraled, creating an angry pattern that looked painful and pulled his skin.
She had a feeling her shock showed, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Dizzy?" he asked curtly.
"No," she managed, now that she could breathe again.
"Good." He moved closer. "What the hell is wrong with you? What kind of irresponsible idiot allows something like this to happen? You should be arrested and charged with attempted murder. Do you know what kind of germs that dog has? That you have? This is a burn unit. These patients are vulnerable to infection. They are suffering with a level of pain you can't begin to imagine."
She took a step back. "I'm sorry," she began.
"Do you think anyone here gives a damn about you being sorry? Your thoughtlessness is criminal."
She could feel his rage in every word. Even more scary than what he was saying was the way he was saying it. Not with a loud voice and a lot of energy, but with a coldness that left her feeling small and stupid.
"I didn't—"
"Think," he interrupted. "Yes, that much is clear. I doubt you think much about anything. Now, get out."
Embarrassment gripped her. She was aware of the other staff members hovering close by, listening.
Montana knew that Fluffy's running through the hospital was a bad thing. But it wasn't as if she'd planned the event.
"It was an accident," she said, raising her chin.
"That's not an excuse."
"I suppose you've never made a mistake."
His gray-green eyes flashed with derision. "Have you ever had a burn? Touched a hot pan or the burner on a stove? Do you remember what that felt like? Imagine that over a significant part of your body. The healing process is slow and what we do here to help it along is excruciating. on this ward, an infection kills. So any mistakes I've made have no bearing on this discussion."
There was no point in telling him that the work she did was important. She often came to the hospital with therapy dogs. Those therapy dogs helped patients heal, especially children. But she suspected this particular man wouldn't care about that.
"You're right," she said slowly. "There's no excuse for what happened here today. I'm sorry."
His mouth twisted. "Get out."
His complete dismissal stunned her. "Excuse me?"
"Are you deaf? Get out. Go away. Take your damn dog with you and don't come back."
Montana was willing to admit fault and take the blame, but to have her apology ignored was just plain rude. Being a screwup didn't mean she was a bad person.
"You're a doctor?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer to the question.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Yes."
"You might want to take that stick out of your ass. It'll make it easier to pretend to be human, which will probably help your patients."
With that she grabbed Fluffy's leash, ignored the fact that the dog was licking the doctor's hand and walked out of the burn unit, her head held high.
On her way back to the kennel, she kept a firm grip on Fluffy, but no amount of holding could erase the fact that they'd both messed up big-time.
Montana loved her job. It had taken her a long time to find out what she was supposed to do with her life. She loved training the dogs, and working with kids at the hospital and older folks at the nursing home. She'd started a reading program at all five local elementary schools.
She could lose everything because of what had happened today. If the administrator called Max and insisted Montana not be allowed back in the hospital, her boss would fire her. A fair amount of the therapy work took place there. If she couldn't go to the hospital, she wasn't much use to him. And then what?
She knew she only had herself to blame. Max had made it clear Fluffy wasn't going to be successful in the program, but Montana had wanted to give the dog another chance.
All her life Montana had been different. On her good days, she told herself she was a little flaky. On her bad days, well, the words were a lot worse than that.
Regardless of the label, it appeared that nothing had changed. She was still incapable of getting anything right.
BookaholicTracy
Posted August 31, 2011
I Also Recommend:
this was a real treasure. I enjoyed every minute reading this.
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.MissSnarkyBlog
Posted August 30, 2011
Only Yours by Susan Mallery is an extraordinary story about accepting yourself before accepting love. Only Yours is about another one of the Hendrix triplets, Montana and her journey to not being afraid to be who she is.
Things I Love About Only Yours by Susan Mallery:
Simon's smile and laugh which are a rare treat
Montana's job (because who doesn't love adorable puppies and dogs?)
The way Simon sees Montana
The way Montana sees Simon
The misunderstandings and arguments
Finally finding out who the "Max" is tattooed on Denise
The whole Hendrix Family dynamic
Meeting other members of the Hendrix Family
Seeing characters from past Fool's Gold Books
Simon dealing with unknown emotions and feelings
Montana's personality and how she always seems on the verge of smiling
And Simon realizing for the first time he can actually be happy
I gave Only Yours by Susan Mallery 6 stars because it is a story I truly enjoyed reading and one I would read over and over again. I highly recommend Only Yours by Susan Mallery, it is a book you won't be able to put down and a book you will want to read over and over again.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.storygirl629
Posted August 19, 2011
Susan Mallery cannot go wrong. She has created the wonderful fictional town of Fools Gold, where the only thing disappointing is that we all cannot actually live there ourselves. Each and every one of her books brings more characters to life and fills the town with love. What I love about Mallery is that you are never reading the same book twice, every time you open the cover you will be pulled into the world of Fools Gold and left desperate to find out who the newest characters/friends are. In this book, "Only Yours" we learn more about Montana (one of the Hendrix triplets...she even makes triplets individuals! Not many authors can do that!) and the new Dr. McDreamy...Simon. Simon is one of my favorite Mallery characters because throughout the entire book I am not sure if I want to love or hate him, he is that real. I keep asking WHO IS HE? Montana has the same reaction as she tries to get to know the new doctor, the doctor that the town council has asked her to convince to stay in town even though he knows he has to leave. Their back and forth struggle to find traditional love in a modern world will have you hooked until the end and then coming back for more stories about Fools Gold. A must read for any romantic at heart.
Read via NetGalley
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In Fool's Gold, California Montana Hendrix enjoys her job training therapy dogs. She is working with Fluffy who sees a mom and son with a hot dog. The canine goes for the food and takes off afterward with a stunned Montana in pursuit. Her boss Max Thurmon already decided Fluffy was not a good choice, but now the escapee enters a hospital causing havoc before plowing into highly regarded visiting plastic surgeon Dr. Simon Bradley who works with burn victims around the world. Simon rips into Montana as infection in the burn ward kills.
The mother of his nine years old patient Kalinda Riley asks Simon to allow her daughter to pet the dog. Mayor Marsha wants Montana to charm Simon into staying, but she explains that "A stick up his butt" Simon hates her after the travesty. However, Simon asks Montana to provide a therapy dog for his patient. CeCe is perfect for the little girl and Montana is falling in love with the nasty doctor who until now avoided relationships since his scarred childhood.
The canines and the burn victims (and their family) refresh the second Hendrix sister Fool's Gold romance (see Only Mine). The lead couple is an interesting pairing of a local dog trainer and a globetrotting physician whose emotional issues stick out on his face. However, it is Kalinda, her mom and CeCe who make for a poignant medical romance.
Harriet Klausner
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Review by Jen:
This is the second of the Hendrix triplet's stories and the fifth of the Fool's Gold series. Of this series, I've only read Only Mine, book four. However, I'm a huge fan of Susan Mallery's so when I say this book on NetGalley. I had to grab it.
Montana has always struggled to find her place as the youngest of triplets, but the pieces seem to fall in place when she begins to train service dogs. The story begins with Montana talking a walk with a dog-in-training. Fluffy gets loose and ends up running around the local hospital and while Montana is chasing him, she literally runs into Simon, a doctor who is not understanding about this accident.
Simon's a world renown surgeon, specializing in burn victims. He's visiting Fool's Gold for a short stint in the hospital. Due to a traumatic childhood, Simon is determined to keep his distance from everyone and not form any attachments. But something about Montana worms her way past his defenses and add in a spunky dog and a young burn victim and Simon is a goner.
I love how Ms. Mallery spins a tale. She has a way of creating characters that just reach in and tug at your heart strings. I really felt for Simon as his past is revealed and how it effected his life and relationships -- especially as he fought his growing feelings for Montana. But what I really like is that while this book is a part of a series and past characters (and ones who will star in future books) make appearances, the book focuses on the stars and doesn't really have any subplots to complete for time. And what subplots there are, are relevant to Simon's and Montana's story.
I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, and hunting down some past books so I can revisit Fool's Gold.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.It was quite dramatic but maybe it was that the subject matter captured me. My hearts breaks for the children who don't know a parent's love. While I think that people who physically abuse children is horrific, to me the parents... mothers... who honestly do not love their children is a far greater tragedy. So to me, this was quite an emotional read that I couldn't help but love.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 11, 2011
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Montana is the most innocent of the triplets, IMHO, and now she's a therapy dog trainer. Love how she meets her "hero" LOL with the dog that can't be a therapy dog, Fluffy a 90 lb Lab and Golden Retriever mix. Montana labeled Fluffy a screw- up and could identify with her. She thought of herself as never meeting her potential. Fluffy gets loose and goes in the hospital, rides the elevator up and gets off and runs into the burn ward. Dr Simon Bradley, a pediatric burn specialist, gets runover by Fluffy and falls on Montana. Montana has the air knocked out of her but by the time the doctor gets through chewing her out she does find her breath enough to tell him "you might want to take that stick out of your ass. It'll make it easier to pretend to be human, which will probably help your patients." He was rough on her when she was trying to say how sorry she was but he is concerned about infection of his patients--Fluffy does have lots of germs on her and she loves to lick. He also had been a burn patient as a young boy and has one side of his face so scared. Wonderful Beauty and the Beast story. Dr Bradley lives for his patients, he's only in Fool's Gold for 3 mos then moving on to the next place that needs his services for burns and plastic surgery. Mayor Marsha recruits Montana to try and get the Dr to stay in Fool's Gold. The hospital has the best burn unit but there isn't any reason he should stay. He is needed all over the world he thinks. His patient, a young girl, had seen the dog making such a commotion and asked to pet her. Her mother told Simon and he made up his mind to find out about a therapy dog. Montana's boss gets a visit from Simon because he needs a therapy dog. Montana is the one who handles the dogs and people so she got to talk to the doctor. Montana feels that the apricot-colored toy poodle, just like Ms Mallery's Nikki, her name is Cece and she is the best therapy dog. She doesn't have dander because she has hair not fur. The young girl was so happy to have Cece come and snuggle up to her. Dr Bradley had come to the therapy dogs "home" to make sure a dog would be able to come and help his young patient Kalinda. Cece got upclose and personal with Simon every time she is around him and with time he also liked Cece to snuggle up to him. Simon has an instant reaction to Montana--he feels sexual and his body does the obvious. Simon and Montana are thrown together most days as Montana comes with Cece so she can be with her patient, Kalinda. Montana feels she must do her best to make the dr realize he should stay in Fool's Gold and there is the being of Simon's fall for Montana and of course she has already fallen for him. Wonderful book and I'm looking forward to ONLY HIS. The last triplet, Nevada's story.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 14, 2012
Loved the whole series!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 10, 2012
This is better than "The Notebook." Without a doubt my favrite book!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 7, 2012
All though the main couple in the book are montana and Simone there love is just the tip of the iceburg. This book shows you that to love you have to see what others don't. That whats on the outside isn't all there is. That we all have scars some physical and some deep inside. But that eve when your hurt love cam heal you, but before you can love or accept the love others have to give you. You have to love yourself...
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Posted February 8, 2012
Well written though
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.FJGirl
Posted December 6, 2011
I enjoyed this book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.quiet_reader
Posted December 2, 2011
Susan does a great job with the characters; making them come alive.
Always an interesting twist to suprise you.
But, and this is clearly personal preferance, the intimate scenes were too long and graphic for me.
I do enjoy the series because you get to learn what happens to the other characters in another book.
IHeartBooksTJ
Posted October 26, 2011
This series is for the true romance novel lover! I have been hooked on this series and have enjoyed most of what I have read from Susan Mallery. My only complaint with the last three titles is that the plot is similar, the main male love interest is not planning on staying in town, and then he realizes he is in love and that Fool's Gold is where he belongs, it was starting to read the same by the time I got to Only His. Other than that I really enjoyed getting to know each of the sister's and am looking forward to reading about others in town falling in love!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.rhonda1111
Posted October 22, 2011
Only yours had you on a rollercoaster of emotions. Montana is the youngest
of triplets. She works with therapy dogs. She takes them to hospital s, care centers and even to a library to help kids with reading. Montana was walking a dog that was not going to work out as a therapy dog. He got loose from her and got into a hospital on his own and knocked over a Dr. in the burn unit.
Dr. Simon Bradley got angry and yelled at her. Montana said words back and left.
Kalinda is a little girl in the burn unit and was in a lot of pain and doped up butt she heard the dog and asked if she could see him. Dr. Simon Bradley was in fool gold for a few months doing surgery and helping burn victims He goes all over the world working a few months at different hospitals a lot in third world countries. His life is his patients. He spent 4 years in hospitals healing from his own burns. So Dr. Simon told Kalinda he would see about getting a dog into visit her.
Montana had the mayor ask her to try and get Dr. Bradley to stay in their town and work in the new hospital. Montana and Simon kept running into each other. Simon has never been so attracted to anyone before. He is a great Dr. but social skills he does not have. When he sees her sisters Dakota and Navada he is not attracted to them even though they are identical.
The patients in the burn unit are tugging on emotions. You get involved with all the characters and I want to read more about them. I can see their are more books about the town that has lot of women and few men thats now changing.
I enjoyed watching Simon and Montana falling in love and seeing Simon opening up. Liked the dogs made me want to get one even though their is one on my bed and one in the other room.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley
sunfire114
Posted October 17, 2011
Hot guys, dogs, love and heartache! This book has it all! Susan Mallery hits a homer again!
Definitely still a very fun series!
Anonymous
Posted October 16, 2011
Very much a entertaining read.
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Posted October 13, 2011
I have always enjoyed Susan Mallery's books. She just has a way to draw in and relate to her characters. Only Yours is no exception. I love how you are pulled in different directions in this book. From sadness to joy. I love this series and can't wait for the next book.
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Posted October 9, 2011
This book made me laugh. Couldn't put this book down, just like all Susan Mallery's books.
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Posted October 4, 2011
Great book.. I have read all of the current "Fools Gold" series..each and everone was great...This lady is a gifted story teller.. I have noww gone back and ordered many of her earlier works...also good reads.
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