This book is your basic, garden-variety paranormal romance. It was a bit slick at times for my tastes but the story and ensuing romance intrigued me enough that, at the end of the first chapter, I wanted to continue reading and see where the story took me.

Kate MacGillvray and Alec Lachlan, both doctors, meet at Culloden, that infamous battle site where the English slaughtered Scottish soldiers fighting on behalf of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Alec has returned to the countryside of his youth to become a small town physician. Once spurned by a female doctor, he has tarred all female physicians with the same brush and announces quite promptly to Kate upon their meeting his distaste for female physicians. As a result, Kate withholds the fact that she is a physician from Alec. She keeps trying to tell him as their relationship becomes more serious but there always seems to be a distraction of some sort and she never gets around to it.

Kate and Alec are the modern-day reincarnations of lovers from the time of Culloden. Regressive episodes of another time, another woman and another man unpredictably overwhelm Kate throughout the story. She does some rather hare-brained sleuthing and eventually determines that she and Alec are the modern-day counterparts of two-star-crossed lovers whose story had an unhappy ending at Culloden. One of my favorite scenes from the book occurred on the first page of the of the story and, ironically, had nothing to do with the romance itself. As Kate walks across the shrouded, murky ancient battlefield of Culloden Moor, she hears bagpipes and drums. The stage is set quite nicely for a paranormal moment. A man, a gravely injured warrior of Culloden Moor, lunges out of the mist and falls to his death at Kate’s feet before vanishing into the mist again.

The chemistry between Kate and Alec was good, although Alec’s consistently calling Kate “MacGillvray” was finally an irritant. Kate seemed to be a bit of a stock character at times. She played quite well the overly competent, driven professional woman who remains emotionally and sexually unfulfilled until she meets the man of her dreams. Alec, also, seemed stereotypical – he was a jaded, once-bitten, twice-shy hero. And yet, despite Alec’s penchant for calling Kate by her last name and the stock aspects of both characters, this book was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.

More bothersome was the Big Secret – I found it disturbing that Kate had to hide her being a doctor from Alec, because it was really his problem. Why should a woman be ashamed of having a profession, especially in modern times? Later in the story, Kate’s reticence about her career comes back, rather lamely I think, to haunt her. Alec finally does find out that she is a female doctor and gives her the heave-ho because of it. Don’t worry though. This is a romance, after all, and the angst-filled separation was only a minor setback for the lovers.

Reincarnation is an interesting subject to ponder. It is fascinating to think that some, or all of us, may have lived and loved before. Another story dealing with regression that I recommend is Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. Although it is more of an epic saga and consequently a much longer story, it features intriguing romances and deals with regression in a very thorough, intense and believable manner.

A Case of Nerves is not of the same caliber as Lady of Hay, but it has its moments. If you can get past the Big Secret and some stereotypical behavior, you might enjoy some of the imagery and chemistry between the hero and heroine.