Tough Love by Lynn Forest

Nick Bennett is counting down the minutes to his long-delayed vacation from his job as a hospital social worker. Awaiting him at his modest apartment is a stack of books and a list of movies for him to catch up on in his planned abundance of quiet time, alone. Now he can take a break from coping with the plights of patients, family grief, and all the other various misfortunes and self-inflicted dilemmas he encounters on a daily basis.
He is asked to speak with one final patient before he begins his three-week absence. A young woman who suffered an alcohol binge is about to be released, without any definite plans beyond leaving the hospital. When Nick sees her, the attractive thirty-something woman seems familiar, but she rejects all of his recommendations and advice.
Before forty-eight hours have passed, he receives a call that she is being held at the police station and is asking to see him. The reluctant Nick finds that their lives seem bound to intertwine, as she continues to reject his professional advice, instead hinting that she may benefit most from the type of discipline she was often threatened with, but never received in her earlier days. And both find that their most improbable intersection of fate is something neither wishes to leave behind.
Can Teresa trust Nick to keep her safe from herself? Is Nick able to give Teresa what she needs to stay on the right path? Is Teresa strong enough to take her life back with Nick’s help? Are they strong enough together to embrace the growing feelings they have for each other?
Publisher's Note: This book contains elements of domestic discipline and sexual scenes. If any of these themes offend you, please do not purchase.