Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE:  The Doctor’s Orders

SERIES: Copper Point Medical #3

AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press       

LENGTH: 384 pages

RELEASEDATE: August 20, 2019

BLURB:

Once upon a time Nicholas Beckert was the boy who stole kisses from Jared Kumpel beneath the bleachers. Now Jared’s a pediatrician and Nick is the hospital CEO who won’t glance his way. But everything changes when they’re stranded alone in a hospital elevator. Ten years of cold shoulders melt away, and old passions rekindle into hot flames. Once out of the elevator, Jared has no intention of letting Nick get away. He wants a full, open relationship, which is a step further than Nick is willing to go, and it looks like the same arguments that drove them apart in high school might resurface. Jared’s determined not to let it happen again. He won’t order Nick from his shell—he’ll listen to what he needs to feel safe. Maybe this time he can prescribe his lover a happily ever after.

REVIEW:

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were so vibrant and so vividly written that I read it non stop. This story grabbed my attention starting with the first page and held it to the last.  Before I begin, I must insert my disclaimer: This book absolutely can NOT be read as a standalone.  I had no idea when I requested the ARC that it was book 3 in a series. It wasn’t until I started reading and seeing the peripheral characters, the dialogue and the mentions of situations past that I realized this. Because of this I was a bit lost in the storyline as I was unfamiliar with the characters’ histories and backstories.

Regardless of that, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read for me. I liked how the author injected a bit of politics of the day into this book. I know there are people who would rather not have political or real life situations/issues in their stories. I understand that for many, reading is a form of escape from that, but I find that at times you just can’t avoid including a bit of reality of into your work.

This book continues to travel along the familiar lines of reality. The author expertly takes on racism and homophobia, and how familial and cultural factors may contribute to these issues.

Nicholas is an upper middle class, closeted gay black man. Although that in and of itself is not uncommon, I think in his situation, familial and cultural ties are huge contributing factors to it. He and Jared were secret lovers in high school but it wasn’t that innocent puppy love that is common place among teens. Oh, no. Their feelings in endured and became stronger as the years went on.

I don’t usually care for the ‘out for you’ trope but I think in this instance it fit and was a driving force for this story.

What I also enjoyed about this book is that she did a fantastic job of incorporating the peripheral characters within into storyline without losing focus on the main two characters. I also enjoyed  the diversity. You had black, white and Asian and Latino, gay and straight characters that were very well written.  Past bad experiences have made me a bit leery when Black characters aren’t written in our Own Voices but in this instance I felt confident that this author did a wonderful job because of who her beta readers were. Which brings me to the other thing that I’m giving her kudos for. This author made the effort to reach out to beta readers that are part and members of the culture(s), racial and ethnic backgrounds of the characters she was writing about. That shows an artist who’s dedicated to her art and presenting the best possible work. She obviously definitely did her research and due diligence and paid attention in terms of that.  She took everything in and applied it to her work and it shows.

I can’t find enough words to express how much I enjoyed reading this. Cullinan has a way of using her words to move you.

Well done, Ms. Cullinan. Well done, indeed.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

Amazon