Bad Boy M.D. – Virna DePaul

Author: Virna DePaul
Series: Bad Boy Doctors #1
Pages: 188

It was only meant to be a dating app hookup. Turns out HeartBreaker531 isn’t an anonymous medical student after all—he’s my new chief resident…

As one of the top cardiac surgeons in the United States, Dr. Lauren Decker is fearless in the operating room, but her personal life is a different story. After her surgeon ex-husband cheated on her with a nurse half his age, Lauren has sworn off men—doctors, specifically. Never again.

But one day, the sexy and infuriatingly cocky Ryan Castle arrives. Looking to be the newest resident on staff, he challenges Lauren’s resolve to protect her heart. He’s gorgeous, ten years younger, a smartass at the top of his game, and soon, Lauren finds herself fighting fantasies of late-night trysts in the cardiology wing.

Like Lauren, Ryan’s been burned by love, but what starts out as an irresistible challenge to get Lauren into bed soon turns into more. She’s fighting what she feels by giving him the cold shoulder, and there’s only one thing to do.

Even though I don’t consider Contemporary Romance one of my favourite genres, I read quite a lot of them. There are several reasons: they tend to be rather short books and those covers… they know how to hook my naughty side! If the book is MF, there are a couple of things that attract me the most: fun books and cocky male characters. And I say cocky, not disrespectful as they often are. I don’t think this book is funny (although now and then, you will laugh), so I picked it after reading the following line of the blurb: “the sexy and infuriatingly cocky Ryan Castle“. When I read this, my brain yells: banter!! And I love me some banter!! The book delivers, by the way.

This book is about Lauren, a very successful cardiologist that is almost 40 years old. A year ago, her husband cheated on her with a nurse and since then she has been lonely and buried in her job. After a short break, she tried a dating app and had cyber-sex with one guy way younger than her. The twist: thay guy was the new resident under her tutelage. Here begins a fight between what her heart wants and what her job demands. Or better said, what she thinks the job demands.

Even though the title says “Bad Boy”, I wouldn’t call Ryan that. He is the classic handsome, sexy and hunkish romance character; but there is not an ounce of Alpha on him (sorry, Ryan). He is not dominant or demanding or brusque in any way. Quite the opposite. He is very attentive, very respectful, playful in a sweet way. Virna tried to tell us he is a womanizer, but it’s a lie. He doesn”t like to play with the feelings of other people. Yes, he is a good match!! After several MF books where the male characters were kind of macho male, Ryan is a more than welcome change of pace.

Actually, I think he should get a statue or at least a street named after him. Not many guys would endure Lauren’s behaviour as much as he does. I don’t dislike the female main role, but I don’t like it either. She says over and over again that she is a very independent woman, strong and sure of herself; but she doesn’t show it. Lauren is obsessed with her reputation, almost enslaved to it. It defines her whole life. One chapter she is kissing Ryan, accepting the best thing in her life; the next she barely speaks to him, sick worried about what her work mates would say. And over and over again. The fact that Ryan endures all that speaks volumes about that character.

To make things more interesting, Lauren’s ex-husband is added to the mix to stir the fire. Samuel is a jerk and I hope Virna is not thinking about giving him a book. I wouldn’t like to read a happy story for that guy.

There are not many sex scenes during the book, but I must confess that they are pretty good. Ryan has most of the merit, due to the points I have mentioned before. He is so sweet and attentive, that the naughty parts are extra sexy.

What I like the least was the end of the book. Are they really living a happily ever after? The realtionship has had a very rocky start and they haven’t really talked about anything important. I don’t know… I have the feeling it’s not going to last. Lauren is still very insecure and sooner or later that will be an issue. Buuuut, it’s the end. No more books for these two. The next one are different characters.

I really enjoyed this one. It was an unexpected nice book that I only picked because “the cover is hot“. Never judge a book by its cover, I guess.

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Remember Me When – Brooke Blaine

Author: Brooke Blaine
Series: The Unforgettable Duet #2
Pages: 151

My worst nightmare and your greatest fear became a reality:
You don’t remember me.
You don’t remember the accident, or the weeks afterward.
You don’t remember my bed as your safe place, or when, against all odds, you fell for me.
You remember me only as the casual acquaintance you saw as you grabbed your daily coffee.
Three sugars, two creamers.

Perhaps an acquaintance is all I’ll ever be to you now.
Maybe I can shoulder the heartbreak and the loss of you, if it means you’ll be happy.
Unless…
You remember me when.

The blurb of the second (and sadly last) book of The Unforgettable Duet does a much better work at telling the reader what they are going to find inside the book. Brooke Blaine left me speechless with the cliffhanger where Reid forgets all about Ollie. I mean, all of it! In my whole life I have never felt actual sickness after reading a book. Brooke managed to make me dizzy. I even had trobule to get a good night of sleep that day… I had developed a huge amount of sympathy toward Ollie and my body was responding as such. I can only applaud when facing this kind of fictional magic.

Fiirst, I must admt I was a bit disappointed when the second book resumed the story from the point of view of Reid. Forget Me Not was all about Ollie and I wouldn’t change a single comma about it. I wanted more Ollie!! But I had to give the painist the benefict of the doubt and I tried to enjoy the chapters told from his point of view (there are also chaperts from Ollie’s point of view). I also have to admit that I didn’t have to try very hard. In no time I was suck into the interesting journey that was going to be Reid’s recovery of his lost memories.

The pace is as slow as in the first book. Slow, but always forward. It’s not boring at all. It’s a very natural pace that makes the character much more appealing and much more easiser to connect to. Not that I needed much to reconnect with Ollie… Speaking of Ollie… he is a f***ing TANK!! Emotionally and physycally speaking. What he endures in order to make Reid’s life better… it really takes a special kind of person to achieve such heartwarming kindness. And in this second book we discover he is built like a professional wrestler according to Reid. I was suprised by this, but I guess it would have been weird of Ollie to mention his bulging biceps or hard chest in the first book (weird, but kind of hot, though). And that he has tatoos… I guess the author liked a lot the cover of Forget Me Not. I can’t blame her.

If I have to summarize the book with just one word I would pick this: agony. Reid has not only forgotten his relationship with Ollie (and Ollie in general), he has also a really hard time accepting he was with another man. That creates a lot of situations where Ollie has to steel himself if he wants to keep helping Reid. I don’t know how the paramedic can handle so much heartbreak in such short time. He is a real superhero. Damn, I hate to admit it; but the Superman nickname fits him like a glove. I would take my hat off in front of this guy everytime of the week. Yes, the crush on Ollie is still going on at full speed *sigh*.

Even though I have only praise for these books, I must admit that I didn’t like the epilogue. It didn’t feel as unique as the rest of the story. Just the classic Romance ending. I guess I don’t like it because it means that we won’t get more stories with these guys. Am I bad a person if I wish some drama in their realtionship so we can get another book?

Next: Guardian’s Bond by Rhenna Morgan

Forget Me Not – Brooke Blaine

Author: Brooke Blaine
Series: The Unforgettable Duet #1
Pages: 165

Three sugars, two creamers.
That’s how you took your coffee every morning at Joe’s Grab ’N Go.
But you don’t remember that.
You don’t remember anything.
Anything, that is, except me…
That day…
And the tragedy that catapulted us together.

What kind of blurb is that? It doesn’t give a clue about what we are going to find in the book. Looking at the cover, I was expecting a rock star as a main character (hunk + tattoo + those colours = rock star, am I right?). The classic bad boy who has a woman in every town. It was thanks to another blog that I discovered this is an M/M book, so I guess a man in every town. I was ready for a cocky and sometimes rude rocker, leading a crazy life. I was pretty surprised at what was really in the inside of the book.

The book is narrated from Ollie’s point of view, a paramedic that has a crush on a stranger that he sees everyday at Joe’s Grab ‘N Go getting his daily dosis of caffeine. For months he has been unable to say something to him, but one day Ollie makes a bit of small talk with the stranger. That would have been an awesome day, except that same day the stranger (Reid) has a really bad accident. The paramedic is the one to respond the call and, thanks to him, Reid is saved. But the poor guy doesn’t rememeber anything of the last ten years, anything except his short converstion with Ollie.

As you can imagine, that is the beginning of a really sweet story that develops little by little in a strong love between them. Brooke doesn’t rush things along as it usually happens in this genre. The couple takes small but sure steps forward to build something dreamy. I’m in actual awe at Ollie. The way he handles Reid’s situation even though it could backfire at any moment is very heartwarming. I had a smile plastered in my face the whole ride.

Most of the merit of my mark for this book is Ollie. He is sweet, considerate, easy-going, loyal, friendly, sensible, empathetic, smart, easy to the eyes, nerdy, the right amount of cocky and… and… Great… I have a crush on a fictional character!! Thank you so much, Brooke Blaine!! *sigh*. Honestly, Ollie is awesome. We would be in a much better world if more people like him would be amongst us. Reid is nice, too; but he is far from the almost perfection of the paramedic.

Ollie’s best friend, Mark, also gets a big thumbs up. He is so much fun and has such a great way of taking care of Ollie. I love all the scenes with those two in the ambulance. That’s the kind of friendship everyone should try to achieve.

In general, the book is sweet and nce to read, but it doesn’t have any kind of emotional blow to keep things interesting. At least not until the end. The author was holding the punch. That clifhanger is a nasty jiu jitsu move mixed with krav maga and crazy kung fu… When I finished the book I couldn’t breathe. I was feeling dizzy and I was trembling (honest!!). So, SO mean!! And I loved it!! Every bit of it!!

Buuuuuuut there is a tiny part of this book that pissed me off. More precisely, my inner nerd was screaming curses and trying to make me give a one star to the book. I didn’t listen to him, because sometimes my inner nerd can be an annoying whiner… What was he complaining about, though? Ollie’s puns against Ant-Man.  The first one was bearable. The second one was uncalled for, but the third one… that one is just cruel!! What do you have against poor Ant-Man?? I love his comics (Hank’s, Scott’s or Erik’s) and the movie!! Ollie is so dreamy that I can even forgive him something like that.

This is a much better book than I was expecting. I will have to check Brooke Blaine’s books to see if there is something else that catches my attention, because Forget Me Not has put her on my “Authors to follow” list (a very prestigious one if you ask me)!!

Next: Remember Me When by Brooke Blaine