Hart and Drake Books In Order

Publication Order of Hart and Drake Books

“Hart and Drake” is a series of romantic suspense and drama novels by CJ Lyons, a former ER doctor turned novelist. The first novel of the series was “Nerves of Steel” that was first published in 2009 and received much critical acclaim and commercial success. The USA Today and New York Times bestselling author has lived life on the edge having been a pediatric ER doctor just like many of the characters in the twenty-one novels of the “Lucy Guardino”, “Renegade Justice”, “Shadow Ops”, “Caitly Tierney” and “Hart and Drake” series. She has been referred to as the master of romantic suspense as she writes about three-dimensional characters with humanity in breathtaking, riveting, and fast paced narratives. As an ER doctor she has been involved in police investigations involving Munchhausen by Proxy, homicide, rape, and child abuse. She has also worked for Stat Medevac and Life Flight as a flight physician, and as a victim advocate, crisis counselor in several Navajo reservation based trauma centers. Ever since she was a child, she had always loved telling stories and this is evident in her novels as she continues to tell stories of people finding courage to face up to challenges and hardship in their lives. In addition to her writing, she has been a keynote speaker at many literary workshops including the ITW ThrillerFest, PennWriters, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Oklahoma Writer Federation, Romantic Times, RWA, MWA, The Frankfurt Book Fair, and the London Book Fair. Her novels have won several awards over the years including the Excellence in Mystery and Suspense at the Daphne de Maurier Awards, the RT Seal of excellence, Readers Choice Award, Golden Gateway, and the RT Reviewers Choice Award.

The “Hart and Drake” series of novels are a combination of NYPD Blue and ER, and probably one of the best medical romances one could ever hope to read. The lead protagonist approximates the life of the author CJ Lyons, as Cassandra heart has to deal with more than the usual drug overdoses. She also has to make do with a vindictive family and an unstable ex. Her life is even more complicated with a few cases of police involvement especially when Detective Mickey Drake barges into it. The chemistry between Drake and Cassie is electric as try as they might the emotional tug is just too strong for them to resist. Throughout the novels the two try not to cross the boundaries, which just makes for knife-edge tension. Cassie is dedicated to her job while she is not averse to a little romance on the side with the mysterious and strong Drake.

Cassie is a likable character and is not the usual girlie girl of romantic suspense as she has worked hard to become one of the top medical practitioners in the state. She will give everything for her patients and will fight anyone and take names when the situation calls for it, which makes her one of the most lovable of heroines. Conversely, Drake strong as he is has his own faults and vulnerabilities that make him human. But interacting with a special woman such as Cassandra helps him get over his vulnerabilities to become an even stronger man that she grows to love. He is a gorgeous and handsome man with a reputation that precedes him even though he often gets into trouble with his superiors. He is funny, sexy, and willing to do anything to help Cassie in her job.

The Hart and Drake series come with superb plotting full of mind blowing suspense and thrills. The narratives have multilayered and gripping story lines of crime and goodness all wrapped together in an explosive narrative. The novels tell the stories of unscrupulous characters involved in domestic violence drugs, and even murder among other crimes in an action packed fast ride. CJ Lyons writes narratives full of twists and turns from the first page to the last that will make the head spin. But what makes these novels so great is that they have the same lead characters throughout the series, which ensures that they are not your usual sappy happily ever after novel. Lyons keeps up the tension really well, right from the time Hart and Drake meet and never lets up even when they become a couple.

“Nerves of Steel” the first novel of the Hart and Drake series opens to Dr Cassandra Hart involved in a losing battle against a deadly drug epidemic. To add to her frustration is a killer prowling the hospital corridors. Her Pittsburgh ER has suddenly experienced a deluge of teenagers who have been overdosing on FX, a new drug that she soon learns comes from her hospital. Determined to track down the person responsible, she soon finds herself in danger forcing her to seek the help of Detective Mickey Drake. Drake is an irascible charmer that penetrates the walls that Cassandra has erected around herself to make for a relationship that fast goes from professional to romantic. Their combined investigative efforts soon uncover the person behind the theft of drugs and they now have to face up to a vicious killer. Their only hope to defeat the killer is the courage borne of their new-found love. The novel combines the adrenaline rush of the Emergency Response unit and gritty realism to make for a griping story that is a behind the scenes look at the medical world.

“Sleight of Hand” the second novel of the Hart and Drake series goes back two months when circumstances forced Cassandra to kill. The man had seriously wounded her, almost killed Drake, and killed her best friend. She is back in the ER but nothing feels the same anymore. But when she has a feeling that one perfect looking mother is abusing her son, her colleagues and friends think that she may have come back to work too soon. Others are convinced that she is involved in a cover up of her own mistakes and that is coming up with the allegations to gloss over her own in-competencies. Meanwhile, Drake has his own problems trying to reconcile himself with the results of the night when his passionate night with Cassie had ended with a man dead. He has been reassigned to a desk job and with nothing much to do delves into cold cases including a nearly decade-old homicide that got his father killed. He catches a break in the case but he is a police officer deprived of his gun. The stakes are raised when he realizes that the man that had killed his father might be the same one tracking Cassie and planning to kill a young boy.