The Antidote for Everything

December 2, 2019
Martin’s solid sophomore effort (following 2018’s Queen of Hearts) concerns Charleston urologist Georgia Brown, whose best friend and fellow doctor Jonah becomes the center of a controversy. Usually unlucky in love, Georgia has a meet-cute on an airplane when she saves Mark, a handsome businessman, from an excess of Benadryl and nausea patches. Mark and Georgia click immediately, though Georgia’s thoughts often turn to Jonah; his patients have been leaving the clinic and searching out care elsewhere, and though he’s an excellent doctor, the rumor mill claims that there have been issues with his care. Georgia and Jonah soon learn that the church-funded hospital has been pushing out trans and gay patients but spinning it to make it seem as if they’re leaving because Jonah is a bad doctor. Since Georgia has many of the same patients, she’s also a target of the framing and is kicked out of the hospital. The situation escalates as Jonah is fired and the story makes it into the press. Jonah, who’s prone to depression, overdoses on Tylenol, shutting down his organs and putting him in a coma. Mark is there for Georgia through it all, though he discovers something about her that endangers their relationship. The two plotlines—Georgia and Mark’s relationship, and Jonah’s possible transgressions—don’t fully gel into a cohesive whole, but Martin’s medical know-how (she’s an emergency medicine doctor) elevates the setting and provides authenticity. This will mostly appeal to readers who appreciate complex medical dramas.

February 1, 2020

This second medical drama by Martin (Queen of Hearts) champions a doctor's right to care for transgender patients. Readers will love Dr. Georgia Brown, a urologist with nose jewelry and fiery red hair who is alone in the world, save for her best friend, Dr. Jonah Tsukada, a gay family medicine doc. On a transatlantic flight, the recently dumped Georgia saves the life of Mark, a businessman who has overdosed on anti-nausea patches. He vomits on Georgia's shoes, then hits on her, and the two share a romantic week in Amsterdam. Back in Charleston, Jonah gets fired, ostensibly because he was stealing drugs, but really because he treats transgender patients. Georgia realizes that the hospital's human resources department has accused Jonah of drug theft because firing him for treating trans people will garner bad publicity. She takes risks to save Jonah's reputation, at the expense of her own career and her burgeoning love affair with Mark. VERDICT Readers looking for hot romance should look elsewhere--the real love story here is the friendship between Georgia and Jonah. With an ending that feels a little too good to be true, this novel is recommended for fans of fiction that addresses contemporary social issues.--Erin O. Romanyshyn, Saskatoon P.L., Sask.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
Martin's second novel, following The Queen of Hearts (2018), combines strong storytelling with interesting characters and compelling themes and offers a discussion-worthy, layered read. The author uses her own medical background to good effect in capturing the life of urologist Georgia Brown and the challenges of working in a church-funded hospital near Charleston, South Carolina. How medical ethics, social stigma regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, sexual harassment, and religious beliefs intersect with medical choices are some of the big questions Martin addresses, while at the center of the story is the beautiful friendship between Georgia and family doctor Jonah Tsukada, who is gay. Martin's trademark witty repartee makes her characters fun to be with, and she both entertains and tackles thought-provoking questions of honor and integrity in a world where facts matter little, and where the besieged are tempted to adopt the sneaky strategies of opponents to beat them at their own game. Georgia's and Jonah's choices resonate beyond the world of medicine as the question of a fair fight provides a much wider social and political context.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)