Who is Barbara Rachel?

Romance Writer of Cozy Medical Romances

About the Author

Barbara Rachel is the pen name of a night-shift medical provider who stumbled into the world of romance novels as a way to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a needed mental escape turned into a full-blown obsession (the healthy kind), complete with posting book reviews on her socials, online book clubs, and an ever-growing TBR pile that could crush a small car.

Inspired by the stories she loved and shaped by her rollercoaster of life experiences, Barbara eventually decided to write a novel of her own. Her debut novel, Alarm Fatigue, is equal parts heart, healing, and hope—a fictional love story rooted in very real emotions.

When she’s not writing (or overthinking her writing), Barbara can be found working the night shift at a Suburban D.C. hospital, hiking with her dog, chasing after her kids, or simply enjoying life with her amazing husband. She also loves researching genealogy, vegging out with cozy romance movies, and firmly believes that most of life’s problems may be solved with an oversized sweatshirt and a mug of tea.

About the Book

Rachel Lazarus is perfectly content with her life as it is.

She lives for her family, her best friend, and her two cats. Admittedly, she does not lead an exciting life, but it is a good life, firmly grounded by her faith. Rachel is a survivor – of loss, of trauma – so everyone should cut her some slack and leave her alone. Of course, her world has become rather small – she works the night shift and spends much of her free time in her safe place at home, watching her stories. Life is just how she wants it—safe and quiet. That is until the women in her life decide she needs to get out more.

Agreeing to go out on three dates sounded simple enough, but Rachel’s life is soon turned upside down as she’s swept into a whirlwind of feelings and insecurities, revealing layers within her she’d long since forgotten. Rachel’s journey isn’t just about dating again; it’s about rediscovering herself, sometimes facing the trauma of the past, and reigniting a passion for life she thought she had lost. Alarm Fatigue invites you to a story of second chances, where sorrow and joy combine to awaken a closed heart.

Will love be the ultimate cure for Rachel Lazarus, or is facing the world outside her comfort zone a door she simply cannot walk through?