Author: Virna DePaul
Series: Bad Boy Doctors #2
Pages: 196
Raegan Reynolds never realized just how hot the spotlight could burn until it nearly destroyed her surgical career. She knows who she is now, and she won’t let any man make her forget again. All she wants is to enjoy her vacation in the Dominican Republic before she lands the role of Denver’s Graton Gift Hospital’s newest chief surgeon.
Thirty seconds. That’s all it takes for one perfect specimen of a man to take control of her passion. Under his rock-steady hands, her knees go too weak to do what she ought to do—walk away.
Women don’t make Dr. Noah Alexander’s hands go clammy—until this one. One look at her freckled nose, crooked grin and intelligent eyes, and his pulse races. But she refuses to reveal her real name.
Peeling away her layers won’t be easy, but he’s determined to make it happen. Just when he’s broken through her walls, however, Raegan’s reminded that giving into passion means sacrificing her career.
Noah’s going to prove her wrong.
He’s done playing games. For the first time where love is concerned, he’s playing for keeps.
Second parts of a saga not only have to be good books, they need to be as good as the first one. Sometimes, you can feel the pressure for achieving pouring into the story and other times you can tell that the author doesn’t give a sh*t about it. This second part of the Bad Boy Doctors series is a book that tries to make its own thing and doesn’t attempt to copy the style of the previous one. I do appreciate the willingness of making something different, but the result is not as satisfying as I hoped. Let’s auscultate this book to see if there is something beating inside!
This time we follow the long shadow of Dr. Noah Alexander, star surgeon and Instragram celebrity who drives everyone crazy with his cocky attitude and his good looks. He is just taking some very deserved time off work in a very luxurious hotel of the Dominican Republic when he meets the woman that should rock his world forever. That person is no other than Dr. Raegan Reynolds, another star surgeon who has been rubbing elbows with the rich and posh of Hollywood. She is tired of that life, so she has applied for a very coveted position for a hospital in Denver. Same position that Noah wants… The is a battle between love and prestige. Can only win one of them?
This book is an anthology of missed opportunities. It had so many good elements that could have been exploited better to build a really fun reading. The fact that both of them were unaware of being rivals for the job as chief surgeon could have been the precursor for a good drama were they become “enemies” before full pledged lovers. But the author puts most of the eggs in other basket, so when the bomb is dropped its area of effect is pretty lame and none of them are really affected by it. I thought that was going to be the main plot, but what I truly found was something very different. Don’t get me wrong, the story we get is good and fast paced, but it lacks trepidation. Some well developed drama would have made wonders to the story. The tools were there, but they are not used…
The main focus of the story is the romantic part. All the energy is put to make that train go forward and still the journey is a rather loopy one. Here is another aspect of the book that falls too short: the role games. I dig the idea of Noah and Raegan pretending to be someone different every day: royalty, weird tourists, professional photographers… and wrapping their sex lives around those brand new personas. That could have led to a really good sense of humor, but it is mostly used to talk and perform sex. Over and over again. Too many naughty scenes that luckily are well written and pretty hot, but a bit repetitive after a while. During a big chunk of the story, everything is about sex. The story is sacrificed and character development is also hindred. The first book of this saga was much better balanced.
I don’t know how to feel about the characters or, better said, about their lifestyle and the current situation explained in the book. Does any of them make any sense? Noah has that cocky attitude that I usually enjoy, but it doesn’t fit with his job. His celebrity life is utterly incompatible with his job as a surgeon. How can he be such a good doctor if he invests such a huge amount of time on building his Internet persona? He was not a child prodigy, so the fact that he is one of the three candidates for the most notorious position as chief surgeon of the country is somehow far-fetched. At least, he was currently practising as a doctor… Raegan’s case is even worse. She gave up her career for red carpets and parties. When she was a doctor, she barely made a name of her own, so… how the hell is she one of the possibilities for that job? I would never go to a hospital where they fill such important positions looking solely at their celebrity status… It’s maddening.
Even though it is not what I expected, the pace of the story and the chemistry between the main characters make the reading easy and sometimes even pleasurable. No idea if there are plans for more books, but I wouldn’t mind that at all.
2020 – Book Gallery
Now it’s time fot the new English word. Drum roll…
lampoon: a broad, often harsh satire of an individual or institution
It sounds like a fun word, but the meaning is a bit underwhelming. The sound of that word fits much better in a happy-go-happy situation. Such a cruel language…
Myshelf 